Safe Keeping
by liidg
Summary: Hermione Granger has been harboring an obsession over the Lady of the Manor for quite some time.  A new threat to the Malfoys has brought Hermione to the Manor and things will never be the same for anyone involved. A/U OOC
1. Chapter 1

A/N This is my first attempt at writing anything so please be kind. Reviews are wanted and welcome. I don't have a beta so please bear with me on the rough patches. This is A/U, some of it because it's necessary for the plot and some because I just wanted to save a character or two from the 7th book scythe.

Disclaimer: This story is merely for entertainment and a writing exercise and is not for profit. Harry Potter and all characters and rights are J.K.'s, Warner Brothers' and Scholastic's. it is there world I am merely borrowing it to play around a bit.

Story Summary: Hermione Granger has been harbor an obsession over the Lady of the Manor for quite some time. A new threat to the Malfoys has brought Hermione to the Manor and things will never be the same for anyone involved.

Safe Keeping

Chapter 1

The rain beat down on her hood as she stood outside of Malfoy Manor perched precariously on tree branch. Hermione had 20 minutes before she had to be at the Leaky Cauldron for Harry's 19th Birthday party and she planned to spend the next 15 minutes the same way she had spent the last three hours and almost every night before that for the last three months, hovering outside a window of Malfoy Manor waiting for a miraculous sign or some sort of epic event to give her closure and finally let her move on. She lit another cigarette and shifted a little bit on the tree branch she sat upon to try and shield herself, and more importantly her cigarette, from the icy rain that had been falling all evening.

After the war she spent the first few months dealing with the Ministry inquests and trials as Death Eaters were exposed and Voldemort's puppets were to be removed from their various positions. Hermione had left for Australia immediately after the war to find her parents, she found them outside Sydney running an ostrich farm. Although they were quite upset at first, they realized that they would not have lived through the war, plus they rather liked their new lives in the "outback" as opposed to dentistry. She only stayed for two weeks as there was too much to do in England, but she convinced Kingsley Shackelbot, Minister at large, to allow her a permanent long distance floo connection to her parents. She had the ability to visit regularly, even just to pop in for tea and biscuits.

Immediately after the war, the Golden Trio were made aurors on a temporary basis while the Order and the Ministry attempted to control the chaos and clean up the epic mess that one would expect to follow Voldemort's reign. Upon returning to England, Hermione took her N.E.W.T.S. as she wanted to make things proper. She received O's across the board of course. Despite numerous offers from private companies, she took the job with the Auror Office so she could finish what the started in the war. After months of red tape, paper work and record setting collective billing hours from every wizarding solicitor and barrister in whole of England very little changed. The Ministry consisting of mostly puppets and providing a home to the bottom fifteen percent of Hogwarts' graduating classes was still filled with paper pushers who would throw their own mother's under the Knight Bus for a corner office or a shiny new title. .

Hermione enthusiastically embraced her job and rounded up Death Eaters, hangers on and Snatchers with the same vigor that made her one of the greatest students and possibly the most insufferable know-it-all to have ever graced the halls of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft (the latter if you were to ask her current business partners).

Once the trials started Hermione's optimism was replaced by the cold realization that nothing was going to change. Her position in the Ministry was more precarious than Ron's, Harry's or the other Order members and her assignments often degrading, dangerous or completely deviant (exactly why would anyone need to focus on wizarding nudie bars immediately post war was still not explained to her) depending on which fool in the Ministry was handing her assignments for the day. She complained to Kingsley but he was too busy trying to fix the whole of wizarding England to notice his ministry really was no different than Fudge's or Scrimgeour's. Apparently a mudblood was still a mudblood and in the end Hermione Jean Granger, brains of the Golden Trio, was for the most part pushed aside after the war. No one discussed the fact that she had withstood a torture session with the most feared Death Eater in Voldemort's little army of psychopaths, nor did the credit her for her daring break into Gringotts, her amazing rescue of a nearly dead Severus Snape after the final battle, no one saw the brains of the Golden Trio or her actions in the final battle. The only thing that still defined Hermione to the wizarding world was her blood status. Countless articles were written about the boy who lived to hate paparazzi and Ginger the faithful sidekick whose new goal was to try and shag more groupies than the collective members of Led Zepplin, but Hermione Granger quietly stepped into the shadows, trying to avoid Rita Skeeter's venom and questions about memories she would rather bury. The trio stayed close, but they didn't keep in touch as much as life interfered.

The final straw for her was the trials for the Malfoys, it would have been bad enough if they had just been acquitted, but to pour salt in the wound, Narcissa Malfoy was awarded an Order of Merlin 3rd class for protecting Harry in the final hour. The woman who sat and watched her sister torture her in her sitting room was now a hero of the wizarding world. This is the day that Hermione quit the Ministry and the day she picked up the rather vile habit of smoking, of course the bottle of firewhiskey she drank prior to said cigarettes might have influenced her decision making.

The nightmares started immediately after the war, but they became all consuming once the Malfoys were freed and patted on the head in what Hermione liked to think of as the wizarding world's equivalent of a political circle jerk. She spent each night drinking herself stupid at the leaky cauldron in a hope that somehow that night she would make it more than two hours without waking up screaming or crying. Every night she would stagger up, or Tom would carry her up, to the room she was renting and every morning she woke up around 3 or 4 a.m. covered in sweat and hung over. The entire time hadn't been very cathartic but she did invent a fantastic new hang over potion that left her up and ready for breakfast and beers each morning.

Although witches and wizards may have ignored her, the goblins certainly did not forget her or the fact that she helped mastermind and commit the greatest heist in Gringotts history. The goblins claims were denied by the Wizengamot as the trio's actions were necessary to save the world but the goblins were never known for being short sighted or stupid. Within five minutes of tendering her resignation to the Ministry, an owl appeared with a letter from Gringotts. Hermione Jean Granger was immediately offered an extraordinarily large salary to act as a security consultant for all of Gringotts holdings including the main branch in London. As the goblins neither cared about wizarding laws nor had any intention of following a majority of them, Hermione was given free reign to integrate muggle technology into her plans and she was in the process of revolutionizing the security of wizard banking. Several foreign Ministries were tracking her progress and had every intention of hiring her as soon as she finished up the last of the Gringotts designs.

Each day was like clockwork, go to the bank, hit the cauldron, drink excessively, pass out, rinse, repeat. One evening she found herself joined by Severus Snape who wanted to buy her dinner as a small token his affection for her saving his life. She was unsure how the pea soup was a gesture of gratitude but she was never one to turn down a free drink. It became abundantly clear very quickly the Snape was having the same issues acclimating to the new wizarding world that she was. This probably had a great deal to do with the new wizarding world being just like the old wizarding world minus one creepy snake guy. Snape had resigned from Hogwarts while still hospitalized from Nagini's bite. Minerva McGonagall loomed over him as he shakily wrote his resignation, she didn't actually care what the circumstances were surrounding her former mentor and employer's death, Severus Snape would never teach another class at Hogwarts as long as she was on staff. Two days later the Board of Governors officially made her Headmistress. Snape, like Hermione, was awarded an Order of Merlin Second Class. After which Snape, also like Hermione, was promptly ignored, shunned and pushed aside by a wizarding world which seemed to not have learned a single thing from the war.

The two quickly made short work of several bottles of Ogden's Finest while alternating between discovering the true personalities hiding behind their respective masks, discussing magical security and trying to outdo each other on pure snarkiness as they discussed the events that had occurred in the five months since the battle. At some point they had been sent upstairs by Tom so he could close up. They had passed out in their chairs as that reminisced over both better and harder days. A very hung over Severus Snape was awoken 3 hours later to Hermione's screams. After he woke her, she gave him some of her hang over potion and a cup of espresso from the machine she kept up in her room. At that moment he realized three things; one, Hermione Granger was suffering from PTSD; two, her hang over potion was one of the greatest inventions of the 20th Century; and three, he absolutely needed to get an espresso maker. Best coffee ever!

That morning over pints and eggs, SRP Creations and Consulting was born. SRP stood for Sacrificial Rebels of the Playground. The potion was patented within a week and an instant success and the company was inundated with requests from foreign Ministries, agencies and dignitaries who wanted added protection and security. They quickly expanded the company with each employee being another person that seemed to fit into their hodgepodge company of rejects and misfits from the war. They hired Penelope Clearwater, whose parents both worked in computers and had imparted a great deal of knowledge to her; Dennis Creevy as a summer intern; Luna Lovegood as office lunatic but also ingenious with potions; Justin Finch-Fletchley who ran their finances and managed the office; and Lee Jordan for his rather devious mind. A month, and several back room deals with some irate goblins from Gringotts, later, Bill and Fluer Weasley joined the ranks of SRP. It took some concessions to the goblins to snatch two of their best curse breakers, but it was worth the free security upgrades. Bill needed a break after the war and Fleur wanted to work on a family.

Every thing was going well. Severus had forced Hermione to stop drinking herself into a stupor every night, although all bets were off on the weekends and the business was doing fantastic. Even Hermione's nightmares had started tapering off, all was truly right in the world. Then three and a half months ago they got the owl, their services were being requested at Malfoy Manor. Justin promptly sent an owl back with a message that basically said thanks but no thanks, but the damage to Hermione was done. There wasn't a member of SRP that didn't have a grudge for one reason or another against the Malfoys. Most of the members had been subjected to Draco's vitriol as students and Penelope had spent time in Azkaban during the war as a muggle-born. Bill and Fleur had enough of the Malfoys during the war. Lee of course ran the underground Potterwatch and Dennis lost his brother in the Battle of Hogwarts. Justin had escaped the persecution under Voldemort by taking up residence in a French villa owned by his family but had stayed connected with Dumbledore's Army through Lee and Hannah Abbot and had returned to fight in the last battle. He also had begun a relationship with Penelope and therefore had a picture of Draco currently taped to a muggle dart board they kept in the office. Death Eater darts was a favorite past time during breaks with each number containing a different picture. Draco secured himself the 20, the bull's-eye was Lucius and Narcissa was the 19. The Death Eaters and by extension the Malfoys had certainly made an impression on the company.

The night they received the owl, Hermione's nightmares started back up. The Malfoys haunted her every waking moment as well, she became distracted at work and at home. She had purchased a fantastic loft in muggle London and it was starting show neglect as dishes piled up, clothes were strewn and a new collection of empty Ogden's bottles lined her table. Two weeks after the owl and two hours after she polished off a bottle tequila (Severus had informed her she needed to lay off the firewhiskey) she apparated outside of Malfoy Manor for reasons unknown to her. The wards were impressive, but she wasn't one of the foremost security teams in the wizarding world for nothing and she made quick work of the Manor's defenses without tripping any alarms. Once on the grounds she no longer knew why she was there and made to leave when she saw the tree. It was an enormous yew that was growing along the north end of the Manor. She remembered a yew in the window of the sitting room. Her first thought was "too easy" but she figured what he hell and decided to climb up. As she ascended she found herself looking through to the room that had been featured front and center in every nightmare she had over the past year. The room was unchanged and apparently so neither was the family. For a family in enough peril to contact a company full of people who were more likely to breach their security than strengthen it, they certainly seemed content. Lucius seemed to be reviewing some sort of documents from work while Draco and his mother were having a fireside chat on the couch. It was like a sociopathic Norman Rockwell painting. Hermione watched Narcissa as she doted on her son, it was amazing that this same woman who watched as her sister tortured her. Of all the things that Hermione remembered about that night, it was those ice blue eyes watching her as she underwent round after round of the cruciatus curse. She had begged her to help, cried out to her and Narcissa never moved. The Ice Queen didn't budge, didn't even flinch at an 18 year old girl being tortured in her home. She wondered when the last time Narcissa felt anything for anyone but Draco was.

That was her first night on her little perch.

That night was the first night but certainly not the last night Hermione snuck into that tree. Voyeurism replaced the Ogden's as her new nightly vice; and like her smokes, she couldn't quit.

She returned each night to watch her, and it really only was her she watched. For a while she told herself she was looking for revenge, salvation or an answer but eventually she realized somewhere along the way her hate had twisted into something else. She realized she was obsessed and quite a bit twisted for spending so much time stalking this woman but she couldn't stop herself.

Severus eventually sorted out where she kept disappearing to and was the first to point out where her interest in Narcissa might lie. "she is quite fit luv but she really is an icy bitch, has been for as long as I remember"

She replied that her interest wasn't romantic. Severus just laughed at her, "look if there is anyone in the world who understands obsession, it would be me. You Granger, are obsessed, look if you want to switch teams I am sure there are quite a few lasses who would love to oblige you, I am sure that you can find a nice girl who is not a sociopathic, power hungry, blood purist to have a go with, particularly one who isn't married to someone whose Death Eater nickname was "Ripper"."

She smirked at Severus' hostility, clearly he was still peeved about that vow, not that it wasn't an accurate description. "So what you are saying is you think we have a chance, hey look at the upside, I would get my very own step-ferret"

Severus' intervention didn't stop her nightly trips but it certainly made her realize that somewhere along the way she became a twisted little pretzel, lusting after her enemy and former captor. The Malfoys continued to plead for their services, each owl coming with a more obscene amount of galleons promised. Each owl sent back with a refusal, neither money nor Hermione's rather unhealthy obsession were going to sway SRP's decision. She wondered who would be such a threat that the Malfoys would reach out to the blood traitor that brought the Dark Lord down and the mudblood brain of the Gold Trio. The wards on the manor were impressive and only a handful of people would be able to breach them. Not to mention SRP was known for its combination of muggle technology and magic in its security consults and its products, who could possibly be threatening tlhe Malfoys that would require that level of security?

Hermione stamped out her cigarette and pulled he cloak a bit tighter, the rain was letting up a bit and it was about time for her to head over to Harry's party. Molly would have kittens if she was late to the Burrow. As she climbed down from her tree she saw a shadow moving across the grass. At first she assumed it was one of those dreadful peacocks Lucius was so fond of but as she got closer she realized it was a dog. Being raised in war and trained for "constant vigilence" she pulled out her wand and took a defensive stance.

The golden retriever quickly shifted into a hooded figure.

"Look Granger, you don't know who I am but I know who you are and there is no reason for you to interfere with my job". His voice was raspy and the accent was definitely American.

"what is your job? Why are you sneaking about the Manor?"

"One could ask you the same thing little girl, you don't need to know anything about me, let's just say Lucius has a debt to settle".

The flash came before she could respond, purple and fast, probably a slicing hex. She deflected the spell and sent two of her own, she may have been the brains of the trio but between her time during the war and have Severus Snape as one of her closest friends she was a first class dueler and had clearly been underestimated by the hooded figure. The duel was impressive and her challenger even more so. She knew she would only be able to keep him at bay for so long as he seemed to overpower her with his speed and strength. As they battled the grounds were being torn apart by deflected and dodged hexes, tasteless sculptures fell victim to stray curses and a few peacocks were going to be only fit for stew. She wondered how long until the commotion drew out the occupants of the house and soon enough several burly looking wizards appeared from the Manor accompanied by Lucius, Draco and Narcissa. The figure was now facing 7 wands instead of one and wisely retreated. He changed back into animagus form, sprinted to the ward line and apparated out. Hermione was left facing what appeared to be a security team and their rather angry tow headed patrons. She had about 20 seconds to come up with an excuse as to why she happened to be strolling the grounds that evening.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This story is merely for entertainment and a writing exercise and is not for profit. Harry Potter and all characters and rights are J.K.'s, Warner Brother's and Scholastic's. it is there world I am merely borrowing it to play around a bit.

A/N So I would like to thank everyone who gave me a shot, I have actually drafted the first couple of chapters and am just trying to clean them up.. I still don't have a beta nor do I have a clue what I am doing, so once again be patient and forgive anything I screw up terribly. Beta volunteers welcome. Reviews make me do a silly dance. :)

Hermione was left facing what appeared to be a security team and their rather angry tow headed patrons. She had about 20 seconds to come up with an excuse as to why she happened to be strolling the grounds that evening.

"So would you like to explain what you are doing dueling in my garden at 8:30 in the evening Ms. Granger?"

"Look Mr. Malfoy, you have contacted us numerous times about your security and I finally decided to assess the situation and then have the team reconsider your offer". It sounded plausible and she knew Snape would back the lie. It sounded alot better than 'I was stalking your wife whom I have developed a complete obsession with'. "Now that we have exchanged niceties and I have met some of your new friends, why don't you share with me what you did to antagonize someone to the point they hired a pro from across the pond to come after you"

Lucius flinched at her comment and Narcissa looked like she was experiencing a cross between rage and desolation when she made her dig, maybe the happy little family had some cracks after all. "If you are going to consider my offer come in and we will discuss the matter in my study. It is completely uncivilized to have this discussion out here" Lucius spat out. The security wizards began escorting them back to the Manor.

Narcissa's expression once again became unreadable when Hermione looked at her when she answered, "Mr. Malfoy or should I call you 'Ripper', I didn't realize you did civilized but as long we stay out of the sitting room I think that is acceptable"

As she walked up towards the Manor her cell phone began to ring treating everyone to the dulcet sounds of ac/dc blaring out of her pocket. The security wizards pulled their wands again and Draco who had been silent up until that point screamed "what the hell is that mudblood?"

Hermione started laughing as Draco looked ready to battle her phone, "it's a cell phone Draco, it beats sticking your head in a bloody fireplace to have a conversation. The ring is ac/dc, a muggle band, the song is Back in Black and it happens to be your godfather's ringtone" Draco winced at the mention of the man who saved his mortal soul but looked appeased that the loud device was not a weapon.

She stepped off the path a few feet away and answered her phone, "I am just finishing up the security check at the Malfoys like we discussed"

"So you were doing a little pre-party stalking and got busted?" Severus knew her well, she was going to get hell for this from the whole team. She made a note to make sure Christmas bonuses were very large and Severus got that first edition of that German potions ingredient book he had been searching for, Schön, aber tödlich. She was going to be out some serious galleons, but better than being tried for trespassing and stalking. The last thing she needed to was give Skeeter a new headline.

"Exactly, Mr. Malfoy wants to discuss our contracts and then I will head over to the Burrow"

"Bloody Gryffindors! Molly is going to kill you. Alright I will cover for you but if I don't hear from you in an hour I will be storming the gates with the rest of the SRP and the Order. If we are going to have to work for that insane prig you better charge him through the nose!"

As she hung up the phone she smirked at Draco and hissed, " you are going to have to get used to our way of doing things if you want us to help you, and ferret, if you call me mudblood again I will draw our little canine friend a map to your bloody bedroom!"

She sipped at the glass of wine provided to her by Lucius and gave him a few moments to collect his thoughts. Narcissa had stormed out of the room muttering about it being Lucius' mess and he would have to explain it. She knew whatever it was it was going to bad.

Lucius finally began to tell his story, and even painting himself in the best possible light it was reprehensible and vile. Although most of the rounding up of blood traitors and muggleborns was performed by the snatchers, Lucius was required to go on rounds to prove himself to the Dark Lord and earn back his wand. Hermione knew enough about Lucius to know that it was probably an excursion he look forward to not a burden forced upon him as he made it out to be. Apparently one night they raided the home of Alicia Bonano. Alicia was a year behind Hermione and had been a sixth year prefect for Hufflepuff. She didn't know the girl well but she knew was generally well liked and pleasant but a very competent witch and not one to be trifled with. She had hexed Draco and Pansy during a spat in the great hall one evening. Pansy had been hassling her about her blood status. This was payback. Draco, Lucius, Crabbe Sr., Fennir and Scabior were sent to the house to teach Alicia and her family a lesson over the Christmas holiday. Alicia's mother was a pure blood but her father was a muggle.

They had certainly achieved their goal of sending a message. The story was gruesome. The family was tortured for hours and both women were violated and then murdered. The father, presumed dead, survived by sheer dumb luck. Unfortunately for Lucius it turned out that the father actually was part of a "family". She laughed when he asked her exactly what La Costa Nostra was. Lucius had pissed off the mafia, it was absolutely the funniest thing she had heard all week!

The muggle mobs had expanded into the wizarding world in the late 70s to expand profits and avoid some of the heat they were getting from various governments. The alienation of muggle-born witches and wizards made many of them more than happy to help the expansion into the wizarding black markets. The Ministry gave them silly jobs and ignored what they did, they used them to their true employers advantage. Voldemort's pure blood mania may have removed them from their government jobs, but they almost uniformly escaped the sweeps and the mob presence in the wizarding world was still very strong.

"Oh my Lucius, you are now a marked man! Find any horse parts anywhere?"

"This isn't funny Ms. Granger, both my son and I are in danger. Two months ago I was wounded by something called a rifle. My home isn't safe and I have no where I can go. I don't know how to protect myself from these people and what the fuck do horses have to do with this?"

"Your family"

"What?"

"Your family, you meant to say you don't know how to protect **your family **from these people"

"No Miss Granger, he meant himself. He couldn't control his more depraved urges, dragged my son into his twisted games and now he is only concerned with himself". She had no idea when Narcissa had reentered the study but the bile and disgust seeped through her voice. " I know you think that we deserve this Ms. Granger, and maybe we do, but my son is a fool and at times a bully but not a true villain. He never touched anyone in that home and for all his bluster, the minute Draco came home he spent the night crying over their deaths. My husband called him a coward for it. Miss Granger, I can't ask you to help us for my husband or for me, but do it for Draco. If that's not enough than do it for the exorbitant price tag that we are going to pay you"

"Hmpf, that Mrs. Malfoy, is the most reasonable thing anyone has said all night, you will have my estimates by the end of the week and our retainer will be high enough to make even Lucius cry, I have an engagement I am late for so I bid you good night."

She arrived at the party over two hours late and was immediately confronted with a sight far more terrifying than a professional assassin or any Death Eater. She found herself set upon by a very irate Molly Weasley. "Hermione Jean Granger, you work the night of your best friend's birthday! How many times have I told you that you need to take off time and work less. You are going to run yourself into the ground."

"Um I am sorry Ms. Weasley but..."

"No buts young lady, have you been eating? You look too skinny. Severus have you been watching over her? Ron do those muggle tellyfones reach Australia? I am calling your parents to let them know you haven't been eating right..."

"Don't worry mother, we will get her sorted." Oh thank God for the twins who had each grabbed an arm and dragged her over to the table. She was saved. As if reading her mind, Fred quickly whispered, "you now owe us for life 'mione".

"And we will collect every knut!" they said in unison.

"Alright I owe you one but I absolutely refuse to try any more of your potions for you. I accidently brought that batch of chocolates you left to my parents. My mum's hair was plaid for a week and my father had elf ears!"

They each promised to clearly mark all experiments to avoid a lecture from their favorite business partner. Having Lee over at SRP had ended up being quite lucrative for the twins and they were frequently brought in to consult. After a few minutes of catching up Hermione excused herself to say her hellos to the rest of the clan.

The time at the party was great, she caught up with her friends and enjoyed a wonderful feast care of Molly Weasley who had switched from motherly lectures to complete doting. Overall the evening was going splendidly. Hermione was sitting outside on a large boulder smoking one of her "filthy smelling muggle sticks" as Molly liked to refer to them when Ron approached and sat down next to her.

"Malfoy Manor, huh? What were you thinking 'Mione? How many times have we warned you off from there? You know how that affects you?" Hermione and Ron's relationship never went past the one kiss, they quickly realized they really were just meant to be friends. He never really stopped being clueless and a git at times, but his heart was in the right place and he made a great mate once you overlooked the rough edges. When you went through everything they had all flaws can be overlooked, even though they didn't talk as much they still tried to keep up to date on each others lives. .

"Yes but it will affect me whether or not I went Ron, I can't get it out of my head, I can't get her out of my head..." She had shared her little obsession with Ron, Ginny and Harry about a month before the party. Severus had threatened to tell them if she didn't. He had figured they might be able to talk her out of it. Ginny had concluded that Hermione had finally officially lost her mind and the three cautioned her to stay away. They also let her know how serious the situation was with the attempts on the Malfoys lives. The Aurors office had a whole file on the recent attempts on the Malfoys and had tried to find out who was responsible but Lucius wouldn't let them near the house or tell them what had occurred.

"Ron I never meant for them to see me, I just, well I don't know...I just feel compelled to go there."

"First of all, no one plans to get caught! Second, if you want to obsess over a bird, let me introduce you to some of my friends from the Harpies." Fame had been kind to Ron's dating life, Ron had dated several members of the Holyhead Harpies as he was still a huge quidditch fan and a huge fan of the ladies. He had figured he could engage in two of his favorite hobbies simultaneous. He was required to stop because Ginny, now a chaser on the team, was tired about hearing her brother's exploits in the locker room and threatened to hex him into a woman. "Bloody hell Hermione, Narcissa is hot but she is a raging bitch! I can fix you up with one of the girls on the team, Ginny won't hex you. Or even better come out with me next week, I have a date with that new model from Wizard's Weekly and she has a sister who is also hot and plays for your team. She is the new drummer for the Weird Sisters, she replaced Orsino when he went off to Thailand to find himself. Come on, give it a go."

"Ronald Weasley, I don't have a team and I don't think I fancy girls, this is some twisted obsession with her and her alone"

"How do you know this obsession with her isn't some cry from your subconscious to let your inner lezzer free? You just said you don't THINK you fancy girls, do you could be stalking her because your are afraid of finding out the truth and she is untouchable." It always amazed her how the ginger could be completely crass and dense and yet incredibly insightful and deep all at the same time. He may live with his foot in his mouth but he also had a point.

"You're an idiot Ron, alright, alright but if this sucks, you owe me."

"Mione, I have owed you since first year, what's one more right?" he laughed. He grabbed her smoke, snuffed it out and dragged her back in to the festivities.

The rest of the night went smoothly, Harry surprised everyone by proposing to Ginny over the cake and after a quick and joyful acceptance, the birthday party turned into an engagement party.

Looking around at her friends, Hermione realized that she needed to stop focusing on the past and look to the future, she was fortunate to have these people around her. She vowed to give the date with the drummer a try and to finally stop obsessing over a woman she shouldn't want and could never have.

The rest of the week went quickly. Hermione sent Lucius what she considered an "informational" care package about the mob. Penelope went over and hooked up a DVD player and television in the Manor so the family could get caught up. Hermione had sent over the Godfather 1 and 2, Goodfellas, Get Carter and The Long Good Friday among others. The movies certainly helped motivate the Malfoys and Hermione got a nice smug satisfaction of Lucius finally getting the horse joke. She hoped he had a few restless nights.

Justin completed all of the negotiations with the Malfoys to save Hermione and Severus the potential murder charges if either were forced to deal with him. Justin was a muggle-born but he did snobbery with a style and grace that rivaled anyone. Justin's was slated to attend Eton prior to his acceptance to Hogwarts and his lineage was allegedly as blue blooded as they came. This of course meant nothing to him in the grand scheme of things, but he could pull out his inner ponce when he needed. Although Lucius didn't actually cry, Justin did report that the he needed to two drinks before he could gather himself up to owl Gringotts to make the transfer. Justin had added that the two drinks were from a bottle Blishen's Private Reserve Celebration Blend Firewhiskey 1982. There were only 500 bottles ever produced in commemoration of the end of the First Wizarding War. None were available for purchase on the open market, Lucius made the mistake of bragging he had over a dozen bottles in his cellar. Justin wasn't in charge of SRP's finances and management as a lark, 20 minutes later after several revisions, add-ons and both Lucius and Justin threatening to break the deal, 3 bottles of Blishen's Private Reserve Celebration Blend Firewhiskey 1982 were added to the contract. The total initial payment for SRP to take on the Malfoys as clients, not including the firewhiskey, was 700,000 galleons. The total contract was for 2.3 million galleons, which was more than the amount Lucius had including reserves and raiding various business accounts. Lucius was about to raid Draco's trust when Narcissa stepped in and covered the last 100,000 thousand galleons out of her monies. After the death of Bellatrix, Narcissa had officially inherited all of the Black holdings including her sister's accounts, Black Manor, LetStrange Manor, all of the LeStrange holdings as she was the last person alive related to them. She also technically inherited Grimmauld Place as Sirius had been disinherited and title had actually gone to Narcissa. Due to several charms and spells placed by Dumbledore and the Order, Narcissa nor the Ministry were able to locate it until after the incident at the Ministry when Yaxley had hitched a ride back to the house with them. Ron had been splinched and their hideaway was exposed. Narcissa had wisely signed over the property to Harry before her trial as Harry was her entire defense. Harry would have testified either way but Narcissa was shrewd enough to know anything she could do to fix her image would be important to her defense, including giving up the property. Even without Grimmauld Place, Narcissa was now the richest woman in England. That title even took into consideration the muggle Queen and some bloody children's author the muggles were always running on about.

The office toasted to the economic fall of Lucius Malfoy with some of the finest drink ever made then set about trying to keep him alive so they could further enjoy his misery. It was wonderful knowing he would have to go to Narcissa every time he wanted a new toy or fancy meal. His mistresses would be the first thing to go as there was no way she was going to pay for the fancy gifts. The new wards on Malfoy Manor were to be layered and contained curses and counter spells woven into the magic for added defense. The wards would curse not only those who ran into them but had curses built in as countermeasures for people who tried to crack them. They were spaced out in layers, a dome within a dome, with muggle motion sensors and video equipment monitoring all of the grounds including the space in between wards. The house was to be brought up to date from the 1790s complete with alarm wiring, and retinal and vocal match requirements to enter the premises. Among the many tricks in the house were traps and curses in key points via Bill and Fleur, trap doors, electrified gates and several safe rooms for the family to retreat to. There was also several spelled archways, patent pending SRP and care of Luna Lovegood, that would immediately contain anyone who used a glamour, disillusionment charm, invisibility cloak or polyjuice potion. Said charm or potion would then be counteracted and the person would be revealed. In the case of a cloak, the demiguise fur was actually neutralized permanently disabling the cloak. That little trick did not work on Harry's cloak, but then that wasn't made from demiguise. These archways had been designed to improve Gringotts previous system which Hermione had exposed the flaws in when she had managed to make it quiet far as Bellatrix LeStrange. The twins had even been consulted and offered up a nice twist on their swamp spell. The plans for the home may have been one of the most impressive designs in firm history, unfortunately they were to be wasted on Malfoy Manor but it was worth it to be able to gloat over a poor Lucius who would now be lorded over by her Royal Highness Queen of Siberia.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This story is merely for entertainment and a writing exercise and is not for profit. Harry Potter and all characters and rights are J.K.'s, Warner Brother's and Scholastic's. it is there world I am merely borrowing it to play around a bit.

A/N I was slowed down by that whole pesky job thing but I am hoping to continue to get chapters up quickly. As for this chapter, yeah I really picked those names for the double date. Cheesy, but I totally got a laugh out of it.

Still new. Still clueless. Still have no beta, accepting applications. :)

****I would like to thank Jaykaygirl, starserendipity, MadameCissy and AmoRay for the reviews. If you haven't already read MadameCissy and AmoRay's stories, you should do so immediately. Getting alerts and leaving reviews (although I admit to being a little remiss lately) for their stories is the entire reason I stopped lurking and finally registered for an account. The stories are awesome. 'Nuff said.

Harry and Ron had slipped a copy of the Malfoy file to Hermione. There had been numerous attempts on Lucius including a sniper attack where Lucius had been shot. Draco and Narcissa had faired better, one attempt was made on them when they were out to lunch one day. Two very uncoordinated muggles had tried to force them into a lorry outside the Leaky Cauldron. It was a very short lived caper as Narcissa hexed both of them within seconds. After a bit of investigation by Severus, who still had contacts in the underworld, it turned out a bounty had been placed on Narcissa as well as Draco and Lucius. Narcissa was rather upset to know that she was including in this list, but in the eyes of the mafia and most of the wizarding world, she was at the very least complaisant in Lucius' schemes.

As it was a bounty instead of one or two hired guns the firm realized that they were going to be faced with some significant problems. It wasn't one contract killer they were defending against, but dozens of killers, many who were former soldiers, snatchers or aurors with a chip on their shoulder after the war. The Malfoys were sitting in the lap of luxury and avoided any prosecution while many others had to bury friends and loved ones and walked away with their lives destroyed. That made for quite an extensive pool of assassins. Hermione convinced the Malfoys to let her bring Harry and Ron up to date. They took an oath to keep the information out of the files, but she figured if it all went to hell she would need some one clued in on what was happening.

SRP began immediate work on the Manor adding temporary sensors and beefing up the amount of security wizards while everything was still being installed. It would be a shame for the Malfoys to end up on the wrong side of an ice pick before every last galleon of Lucius' was plucked from his cowardly self serving hands.

Unfortunately Hermione and Severus were going to have to create the wards as the spells were too complex for anyone else in the company to perform successfully. The Malfoys were being hunted by professionals and clearly only the most spectacular security was going to keep them safe from harm. Even then they were going to be trapped in the Manor if they wanted to stay safe.

The ragtag band of misfits that made up SRP laid siege to Malfoy Manor. They decided they would just stay in the Manor due to how labor intensive the job was going to be. It was all hands on deck and even Justin was brought in for charm work. They stayed in their own wing at the Manor and the fist day, with the aid of the house elves, they mostly avoided the Malfoys. The next few days were rough as they started spreading out and tackling jobs. Lee had coined the group "Them" as it seemed to be the term Narcissa used most often to describe the group as a whole. Anytime they needed something, she would sniff her nose and look disdainfully at Lucius and order him to "deal with them" "Lucius have them turn down that racket, I don't know how her kind can consider this music" "Lucius make sure the elves keep them out of my quarters unless I am there" The "them" was always said in the same manner one might use to describe mystery meat found in the back of the fridge during spring cleaning.

Her facade was starting to slip though and Hermione was starting to see the pain hidden behind the ice. Fearing for ones life certainly did help with introspection. Within the first few days Narcissa pulled Severus aside and apologized to him for the war and the Oath he was stuck taking for Draco. "I know what I am Severus" she told him, 'but I love my son and you saved him. For that I will always be grateful to you." He had informed her that he wasn't the only member of SRP that she should thank.

Draco had sat down and told the team the story of the raid over a few pilfered bottles of wine from the cellar after they had finished working one night. By the time he was done, he was crying and so were Penelope and Hermione (Luna just took his hand). He hadn't actually done anything at the raid but he still hated himself for not stopping it. Draco spent the raid alternating between hiding in the bedroom and throwing up. His father had tried to get him to kill Alicia but Draco had refused. Of everything he had done or not done in his life, it was the thing he regretted most. Hermione told him that he did do something when he refused to throw a single spell, even when Fenir hit him with the cruciatus for disobeying. He wouldn't have lasted a minute if he tried to raise his wand to the other Death Eaters, but Draco would have preferred to die trying.

After that Draco had made peace with the various team members and had actually started to get on well with most of them, particularly Lee who had introduced him to the joys of satellite television, the quidditch network and internet gambling. The twins not only ran their shop but also had the distinction of being the premier sports book for the wizarding world. They had created their own website and one could wire transfer bets through Gringotts as well as paying in person or by owl. Draco also had become an ac/dc fan much to Narcissa's dismay.

After a day or two, the flippant remarks from Narcissa started to wane and she was pleasant and polite to most of the SRP. That pleasantness did not extend to Hermione, it seemed as if she saved up all her nitpicking, antagonistic questions and snide remarks for the muggleborn witch. Hermione was giving it back as good as she was getting it, having her very own large chip on her shoulder and being snarky hid her actually feelings quite well. The only interaction she was getting with Narcissa was fighting and if that's all she could get she would take it.

They would often end up toe to toe sniping at each other and it seemed they were both determined to seek each other out for any opportunity to spar. There bickering was driving everyone in the house crazy and Draco even started intervening to keep them apart.

On the fourth night there a very large argument was brewing between the mistress of the house and a security expert on her last nerve. The two were alone in the kitchen while Hermione was installing video surveillance equipment.

"Ms. Granger, explain to me how having random strangers watching my every move is going to stop these people from getting Draco or I? I do not want my life to be entertainment for you or your team or end up on the front of the Daily Prophet!"

Narcissa had backed Hermione up against one of the counters and Hermione felt her heart race. "Mrs. Malfoy as I have told you no less than 15 times, my team are professionals, I am a professional, if we do not monitor the premises, someone can come in and get to the THREE of you!" Hermione didn't mean to yell but the last few days of having her own little personal obsession turn into her own nightmare had gotten to her.

"Isn't that what your bloody wards are for? That's why you are in my house, is it not? Because you are the greatest ward builder in Europe! Why do I have to suffer your presence if I still have to worry about break ins?" hissed the now equally upset blonde. Those icy blue eyes were filled with fire and Hermione felt her heart break a little at the witches dig. When she saw Narcissa with Draco or around her team she fell a little bit more in love with her and every time she faced her fury she felt a little more pain from her. Ron was right, she needed to get out a bit and clear her head. Fortunately, she had taken him up on his offer. She slid out from the corner and headed towards the door yelling as she went. "The wards I am building may very well be the strongest ever built, but while you have a price on your head every miscreant wizard, out of work snatcher and wand for hire is going to be gunning for you. We need every little edge we can to keep Draco, you and your vile husband as safe as we can from an organization that is larger and more dangerous than your precious little Death Eaters!"

"They aren't my Death..."

Hermione turned interrupted before she could finish, "no of course they are not yours. You clothed them, fed them, healed them, let your son take the mark, but they aren't yours! Did you forget I was tortured in this house, tortured while you did nothing and yet I am here protecting you! Either say thank you or say nothing but I am tired of you harping on my every move and as far as my presence goes, tonight you don't have to worry. I have a date. Goodnight Ms. Malfoy!"

She apparated to the Burrow to meet Ron and from there they flooed to the Leaky Cauldron to meet their dates. Sitting at a table in the Cauldron were two very beautiful women who were clearly related. Although she couldn't accurately gauge their heights, they were both clearly very tall. The both had long black hair and blue eyes. Their angular faces were quite beautiful and Hermione realized her boys might be on to something with the whole switching teams idea. The girls were both roughly around the same age as Ron and Hermione. They also had stunning smiles which Ron and Hermione were treated to upon their arrival. That was where the similarities ended. One of the girls was dressed to the nines in a gorgeous red dress with matching stilettos and bag, the other was in black leather pants, a black tailored shirt and boots and had a tattoo of several runes running down her neck. Hermione didn't have to be the brightest witch of her age to sort out which one was the drummer and which was the model.

Dinner actually turned out to be a riot, the girls were both very bright and witty. Hermione realized she fancied her date and made a note to herself to officially request her toaster. They went to a new restaurant that had opened near Diagon Alley and were treated to a delicious meal. Lucy, the drummer, was both impressed and a bit smitten with Hermione after she inquired about the tattoos. Hermione was always aces in runes and had set to studying them. "most people merely inquire how far the run down my body, you are the first person truly interested in what the mean."

"And what is your response when people ask how far the run?" Hermione whispered.

"Normally it's 'bugger off', dealing with people only interested in my fame or my body is part of the gig, but your different. In your case I am willing to submit myself for further study" Lucy's hot breath on her ear caused her stomach to drop and every hair on arms to stand.

Hermione was having an internal struggle on what to do next. She was by no means a virgin, but she certainly wasn't a first date sort of girl either and she had never been with a woman.

Hermione was brought back to the present by a nudge from Ron, he and Lucy' s sister Renee had hit it off as well and he was going to "walk her home". They settled up the tab and Prince Ginger escorted his date home. Hermione and Lucy went for a stroll in the neighborhood and Lucy had wrapped her arm around Hermione. Hermione stumbled over a curb falling into Lucy's arms. As she up righted herself, Lucy leaned in and stole a smoldering kiss. This was different than the boys Hermione had dated, the passion and desire she felt was something entirely foreign to her. As she returned the kiss Hermione was trying on her new team uniform in her head. The evening was going perfectly and Hermione was contemplating her next move. She felt true desire but at the same time she was still longing for Narcissa. She realized she needed to stop pining for what she could not have and leaned in for another kiss when both of the women were blinded by a flash.

"Ooooh what do we have here? The new drummer for the wizarding world's most popular band on a date with none other than Hermione Granger. Still chasing after celebrities Ms. Granger? First Harry Potter, then Viktor Krum, now Lucy Hart". What better way to end an evening than face to face with one of your nemeses. It was bad enough that she was living with the Malfoys, now her wonderful evening was being ruined by Rita Skeeter, reporter and muckracker extraordinaire for the Daily Prophet, and thorn in the side of the Golden Trio for six years and counting.

"Rita I have a glass jar with your name on it if you don't get out of my face in the next 30 seconds" Hermione drew her wand and pointed at Bozo, Rita's photographer, "and take your lackey with you before I demonstrate all the nifty hexes I have picked up since we last met."

Rita and Bozo sprinted away, most likely with the front page picture for tomorrow's daily prophet. "I am sorry about that, I really am. It's not true, I did date Viktor but Harry is just my friend. Most people have forgotten about me and have focused on Ron and Harry but Rita has a bit of a personal grudge against me".

"I understand the press is also part of the gig, I'll tell you what why don't you let me bu you a cup of coffee and you can explain how a jar is a threat. The boys would love to know how to make Rita run like that, she ran a week long 'expose' on us where she accused Heathcote of being a Death Eater and alleged Merton and Gideon were sleeping together. Merton is straight and Gideon's paramour almost threw him out of the house. She is the reason Orsino took off for Thailand, he went home one evening and found her literally snooping through his underwear drawer and that was his limit. She is a complete hack. Sooooooo...Viktor Krum huh?"

Hermione laughed an took Lucy's hand when her phone received a text. "112 manor" there was an emergency with the Malfoys. She quickly made her apologies to Lucy and after a short kiss for the road, apparated back to Malfoy Manor. It seemed fate had other plans for her for the time being.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it's all Rowling's. This is not for profit, merely a writing exercise.

A/N I just wanted to thank everyone who have taken the time to keep reading this. I had written the first few chapters with the intent of writing the story and then posting it once it was done. This is the first time I have ever written fiction and I became a bit unnerved around half way through the third chapter and really started to debate whether I should so I posted up chapter 1 to see if I should bother continuing. The fact that people are not just reading it, but adding alerts for it and adding it as a favorite is completely awesome. I especially want to thank the reviewers, reading your responses has become my crack. Sitting on the other side of the fence I get it now, reviews are huge. The hits, tags and reviews have seriously motivated me to keep it up and are awesome, so thank you. Still no beta, the job's open to anyone with a pulse, a working knowledge of English and a desire to do it. Ok ok the working knowledge of English is optional...so is the pulse bit, zombies and vampires are welcome as long as they don't sparkle.

The first sound Hermione heard when she arrived outside Malfoy Manor was the crackling of spells being deflected. They were only half way done with the wards but even half way should have been enough to keep almost all wizards out. As she approached the wards they seemed to be solid, She ran a quick spell and the full perimeter was up, whoever caused the alarm was invited or truly gifted with wards. Knowing the Malfoy's friends, Hermione assumed the former not the latter was true in this case. She let herself through the wards and ran to the Manor. The sounds seemed to be coming from a second entrance that lead to the ballroom. She could hear the sound of someone call for help and she headed towards the sound, she saw Draco holding his mother who was bleeding heavily and either unconscious or dead. She took a defensive stance kneeling beside him.

She had to raise her voice to be heard over the battle from the next room. "What the hell happened here? Please tell me she is alive", she begged. There were two wizards down and Draco had his wand in his hand while he held his mother. They were up against a wall in a small coat room to the side of the foyer, the next room over was the ball room. From the deafening blasts, it sounded like quite a duel was taking place.

"My father sent an owl to the Bonanos telling them that he would give them Mother and I in exchange for his life, he offered them some of Mother's holdings since he would inherit everything once she died. He figured he could save his own life and make a profit. He invited them in here thinking he could apparate through the wards as usually if they crossed him but he forgot you had cast the additional temporary wards. As soon as they got in they attacked. I managed to get these two down but she was hit with rubble from a reducto curse, she will be ok once I can get her out of here. I can't believe he was willing to hand us over for his own gain.". Draco was near tears, this was the Draco that Narcissa had talked about, all bluster but he did not have the heart of a killer.

"Draco, the day you stop trying to make your Dad proud by trying to be the man that your Dad wants you to be and realize who he is, will be the day you will be a man that you can be proud about. Get Narcissa to my quarters, I have a medical pack with several all purpose healing potions and a blood replenishing potion. If you can get out of here to get her to St. Mungo's, do it. I am going to introduce myself to our new house guests".

Hermione ducked out of the closet and entered into the ballroom. It was massive and incredibly ostentatious, even for the Malfoys. The ceiling had been painted with pictures of various famous Malfoy scions and the walls were a combination of filigreed mirrors and velvet paper of a deep burgundy. Most of the mirrors were shattered, the beautiful floor charred and the ceiling was close to collapsing. Her teammates seemed to be doing quite a good job against the bounty hunters despite being outnumbered 2 to 1. These weren't the out of town pros, she recognized quite a few of the lot as snatchers from the war. The members of SRP had all fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, most were former DA members and they spent a significant part of their free time practicing dueling with Severus Snape, perennial bad ass of the wizarding world and possible the most deadly wizard still alive. Out of work snatchers and hack bounty hunters were no match for group. If they had been as skilled as the wizard from the week before it would have been a different story but this lot were not up to snuff. Several of the wizards were already unconscious, among them Lucius who was also in a full body bind, she wondered which side had gotten him.

The rest of the wizards had been backed into a corner. Severus was taking on three Wizards at once and looked to be having a great time. Luna clearly had spent quite a bit of time with Ginny in the past as she threw a mean bat bogey hex at an older wizard who looked a bit too much like Vincent Price for comfort. She followed up with a stupify and he was out of for the count. Lee hit a wizard with a hex that left him buck naked, green, disarmed and stuck to the wall like it was a leprechaun magnet. She had no idea what the hell that was but she assumed a Weasley twin was responsible for its creation.

Hermione saw Scabior and another snatcher backing Penelope up a bit and Hermione jumped into the fray. She took on Scabior leaving the other for Penelope to clean up. She wasn't surprised the former snatcher was among the bounty hunters, it was a job tailor made for him. She wondered how the hell he was still alive. She owed him for that nice little trip to the Manor during the war. He was the one that delivered her to Bellatrix, and she was thrilled to see him and finally get a little payback. Knowing that he was one of the ones on the raid and not only escaped having a bounty placed on him, but was trying to collect on it was enough to make her want to avada him.

"'Allo luv, now I wasn't expecting you to be here, woulda figured you would keep away from here after last time. What a lovely surprise! Maybe you un me can go for a stroll in the gardens once we round up the Malfoys". Scabior mocked, he was still the smug scoundrel she remembered, she might have found him kind of charming in a way if she hadn't known he was on that raid. He certainly was no Jack Sparrow.

"I am not going to let you do that Scabior, I was hired to protect them". She saw the incredulous look on his face as he looked over to Lucius and sighed, "yes, even him, but while we are chatting, how are you here? Last I heard you fell in with some bad company".

"Hah! You're a funny lass aren't you, aresto momentum. Brightest witch of her age couldn't figure that out? By the time I got myself back up, it looked like a strategic retreat was called for. You surprise me girlie, I woulda thought we wouldn't been squaring off this time". The two began to duel in earnest, Hermione used a protego to block a blasting hex and fired back a ventus jinx. The blast of air knocked the snatcher off balance, she followed up with a stupefy that he easily blocked, she ducked a severing hex and tucked into a roll to avoid the evisceration curse. As she came out of the roll she immediately hit Scabior with levicorpus and then hit him with an aculeus curse as he hung from the ground. The curse made it feel as though he was being pricked by a thousand thorns. That one was payback, she then applied a full body bind and then floated him over to where Lucius was bound.

As she looked up, it seemed the rest of her group had made quick work of the hunters and all that was left to do was clean up the mess. She didn't want to ruin Ron's night so she put a call into Harry who was staying at the Burrow and would probably love a break from a house full of Weasley's, in-laws and stray order members. Grimmauld Place was undergoing magical fumigation and the pest control wizards from Orcin wouldn't be done for another week. All the strays were squeezed in with the Weasleys.

Harry showed up with a team of aurors to round up the would be assassins. Hermione checked on everyone and they seemed unharmed. Draco came in and told her Narcissa was awake and was back on her feet so the only real damage was to the ballroom and that really counted as an improvement.

The bounty hunters were bound and lined up against the east side of the ballroom closest to the foyer, one by one they would be taken off the property line and brought to the ministry through side along apparition for processing. They remained bound during transfer to protect the aurors from splinching caused by a struggling prisoner.

Soon Scabior and the two in the foyer Draco took out were the only ones left. She sat down next to Scabior and asked him, "You know you are going back to Azkaban for good, help me out and I will try and help you out, is there any way for the Malfoys to stop this?"

" You are a strange bird" he laughed, "you should be dragging them to the gallows and yet here you are playing the hero. Why? Are you really ready to die for a ponce like Lucius Malfoy, that little shit Draco or the ever frosty Narcissa Black Malfoy, queen of the pureblood elite. I know what happened love, I heard about you had a little "girl talk" with Bellatrix. I imagine you weren't painting each others toenails and talking about boys. Are you really going to defend them? Bloody hell, take their money and then hand them over, no one will think less of you. It's what they deserve."

She thought about what he said. He had a point, the Malfoys watched her be tortured, Lucius was a monster and his wife backed and supported him. Frankly Scabior deserved to be hunted right along with Lucius. Draco seemed redeemable though and now that they had found a truce she was even warming up to him.  
"I am like a cat love, always land on my feet. That should appeal to you Gryffindors. You really think that git is redeemable? That little girl cried during one of our raids, cried. Can you believe that? Really I thought Lucius was going to kill the little mollycoddle. " startled, she realized she had spoken her thoughts aloud. Scabior looked at her and asked, "will you defend Lucius, will you die for him?"

"My contract is to keep Lucius alive but I do think Draco is savable and I will keep him safe contract or no contract."

He looked at her quizzically, " what about the Ice Queen?"

She looked at him sadly and answered honestly,"with my last breath"

His look of astonishment would have been priceless if they weren't having such a serious conversation, "holy hell girlie, you've got it bad for her Royal Frigidness, what's it your lot call it Swedish syndrome? You're sweet on your captor, you do realize how twisted that is? Luv, why don't you give me a try, all you need is a proper bloke to set you straight. You and me, we aren't too different, well cept you bein a mudblood and all. You exploits are famous, your little escapade at Gringotts is legendary, we would make a good team"

She was trying to decide which hex to throw when Dawlish and Proudfoot arrived to take Scabior in. She frequently wondered if she was fly-paper for weirdos and Scabior just seemed to prove her point. She told Dawlish to try not to lose him (another one that slipped through the cracks after the war) and started to walk away.

Lucius began to moan and was clearly waking up. She walked towards him and unbound him with a flick of her wand. As he started to stand she decked him and he crumpled back to the floor. Severus rushed over and grabbed her before she could hit him again. Lucius started to try and speak when Severus cut him off, snarling "unfortunately we are contracted to all three of you. You are lucky you aren't dead and it will take every ounce of patience and probably several bottles of your finest vintage from the cellar to keep our team from collecting on your bounty. You may be useful in the future which is why I am not returning your deposit so I can collect on you myself. Stay out of the way and stay quiet Lucius. You are getting a pass because you paid for us to be here, this doesn't happen again.". With that he hit Lucius with a right cross so hard Hermione started looking for the cartoon birds flying around Lucius' head and somewhere, half way around the world, Roberto Duran was heard muttering 'no mas, no mas' in his sleep. As Severus started heading to the door to go outside to talk to the remaining aurors, she yelled at his retreating back, "I knew there was a reason we got on so good.".

As she exited the ballroom on the other side to cut through the kitchen to her wing, she saw Narcissa and Draco standing there. They had been coming back into the ballroom and from their faces it was clear they had been listening, she just wondered how long. Draco looked at her and put out his hand, "I think I am going to start taking your advice Granger, thank you, and by the way nice uppercut. I really want to kill the bastard but I know that is only going to make things more complicated"  
She took his hand and she looked him in the eye and said, "We will find a way to fix this, your father caused this somehow we will find a way to use him to make it right. I meant it Draco, I think you can be a good man." She was happy he chose to ignore the part of the conversation pertaining to his mother. Narcissa looked at her but said nothing, Hermione saw the exhaustion and sadness in her eyes and decided their conversation would wait for another day. Even in her current state the older woman was beautiful, but the pain in her eyes almost made her seem human, approachable even. Hermione bid them good night and headed back to her quarters for a long hot bath.

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The next morning she came down for breakfast expecting that she finally had a truce with Narcissa and was promptly greeted by a wall of ice. She sat next to Severus who was smirking and raised her eyebrow in perfect imitation of him. He handed her the day's paper and went back to consuming his fry-up and coffee. Gracing the cover of the paper was the picture of Hermione and Lucy with a headline that read Heartbreaker Secretly Queer, Seduces Drummer! The article went on to go through all of the famous witches she supposedly seduced including Fleur (who thought it was hysterical and proceeded to make kissy noises at her), Minerva McGonnigal, Bellatrix LeStrange, Narcissa, Ginny and even Molly Weasley, who was like a second mother to her. She shivered a little at the thought.

"I hope zat was not for me 'ermione?"

"No Fleur, that was for Molly" she laughed, "I have no objection to dating you, although Bill might be a bit put out.". Everyone at the table had a laugh at that, except Narcissa who threw her copy of the Daily Prophet down on the table and stormed off leaving a very confused table and an even more confused Hermione.

A few hours later Hermione was sitting on her balcony taking a smoke break debating whether Narcissa was mad about Lucy or because she was accused of dating a mudblood woman when Severus came out to join her.

As he sat down in the chair next to her she studied the man who was considered one of the greatest spies in history. She wondered if he would be up to girl talk or would he end up deducting points from Gryffindor. (As consolation for having him booted, Minerva still allowed his point deductions to count from time to time, much to the dismay of all the houses as he no longer favored Slytherin. It was good for a laugh and strangely effective in keeping former students in line after the war) "So you are in Lady Malfoy's good graces, what is her deal? I believe under the circumstances I should be the one fuming at her not the other way around. What does she care about Rita's lies for the day" she huffed hoping he would bite.

The dungeon bat grabbed a smoke out of her pack, lit it up and took a deep drag. " Narcissa is a mystery to the world Granger, she is a woman so therefore nothing she does makes a lick of sense and as she is a master occlumens, I can't read her mind. Of course if I were a betting man I would say me thinks the lady doth protest to much"

She threw her pack at the potions master's head, " hey watch it with the women stuff! Seriously though, you really think she likes me?"

"You dear just proved my point, and I think Scabior is right, you probably do have Stockholm Syndrome. Mad, every last one of you. What does it matter what goes through that woman's head, stop obsessing. You sound like a school girl with her first crush.". He frowned for a second. She knew him too well and knew the scowl on his face was the 'I am holding things back' frown and she told him as much.

"Alright Granger, when she apologized to me I confronted her about you. She told me I didn't know the whole story, that she never wanted it to happen. She seemed to want to say more but was afraid to tell me. I can't see what other story there is, the Dark Lord wasn't here. Don't dwell on this Hermione, stop tormenting yourself with this. How have the nightmares been?"

She lit another cigarette and curled up in her chair, "they have been bad but that's to be expected, I am revisiting the scene so to speak. It was one thing sneaking about that window, it's another to sleep here. Of course some nights my dreams are much more pleasant and involve the Lady of the Manor on her worst behavior. Either way you cut it, I am not getting much sleep. Which dream just determines whether I am cranky in the morning."

"Hermione, the drummer seems hot, your business is doing great, you have friends and family that love you and you are always cranky in the morning...finish these wards and get out of here. You don't need this. Get to work, get it done, go home."

She wondered if she could.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing; it's all Rowling's. This is not for profit, merely a writing exercise.

A/N Lucy was originally going to be straight up dumped (politely of course, I am not a barbarian), but as she is liked I tried to come up with an out. Lactose Intolerance Alert: This chapter contains bad jokes and a significant amount of cheese. I apologize for the jokes and suggest Lactaid for the cheese. This story will earn its M rating not just yet though. In this chapter I am hoping to earn a few chuckles but might earn an eye roll or two.

Hermione tried to stick to Severus' advice; she worked on the wards, over saw some of the other system installations and set out to avoid Narcissa as much as she could. Best of plans and all. The two still couldn't make it more than a few hours before one would run afoul of the other. Lucius had been scarce since the attack on the Manor as he was a persona non grata to everyone involved and Narcissa was now left in charge of the house. Hermione still didn't know if this hostility was because she was dating Lucy or because the Black family name had been tainted by being associated with a mudblood. Most of the time she figured this was about Narcissa being brought up in the article but there were times when they were fighting where she would look into Narcissa's eyes and she swore she saw desire there. That look was why she kept coming back for another round with the blonde.

Hermione ended up seeing Lucy again. Angelina Johnson had signed with the Falmouth Falcons, whose aggressive playing style suited her perfectly. She had gotten use of one of the boxes and let Fred have the run of it. Fred had in turn invited George and Ron who in turn invited Lee and Renee. Lee invited the rest of the SRP and Renee invited Lucy, which is how Hermione ended up on her second date at a quidditch match of all places. The Falcons were playing the Cannons so Ron was thrilled to be able to watch his team play, however poorly it might be that day.

Unfortunately things became very awkward very quick. Ron had invited Lucy and Renee and Severus had invited Draco and Narcissa. It didn't actually seem to be possible for Narcissa to be more haughty than she was at the World Cup, but some of the looks Narcissa was shooting, particularly at Hermione, had were so cold Hermione could swear she felt snowflakes. To make matters more complicated, Angelina's younger sister, Velina, was also in the box with some of her friends from Beauxbatons. They had recently graduated and were backpacking for a bit before they sorted out what they wanted to do. Velina seemed to fancy Ron which was not going well with Renee. George, Lee and Draco were flirting up a storm with several of the girls and quite oblivious to the cloud of girl angst doom that was forming. Using complex arithmancy calculations, Hermione concluded that there was a 13% chance for a cat fight, a 27% chance she or Ron was going to be wearing a drink on their head, a12% chance they would both have dates by the end of the evening, a 34.5% chance they would both go home alone, a 9.3% chance only one of them would go home alone, a 4% chance that there would be a bacchanal and .2% chance that the box would explode from the tension. She cast a water repelling charm just in case and hped for the bacchanal.

Hermione felt awful about the situation. She really liked Lucy, but there was a reason she referred to her feelings for Narcissa as an obsession, if she could actually keep her eyes off of her it would have been called a crush. She knew Lucy deserved better than that and was trying to figure out what to do when Fate looked down on her and decided to take pity, Random Coincidence might have stopped by for tea or something but it looked like Hermione was going to get a pass. Luna had been reading the most recent edition of the Quibbler and Lucy asked to borrow it. It turned out she was a diehard reader.

"Of course, don't you love how sometimes you find exactly what you want in the last place you would think to look" Luna quipped and subtly winked at Hermione. Most of the box just figured it was another Luna moment, but Hermione knew Luna was about to cover the grenade for her. It worked out rather well as the two women began an in depth conversation on wrackspurts.

Hermione decided to pay her good fortune forward and save her ginger once again. Ron was clearly hot for Velina, so Hermione grabbed Severus and walked him over to where they were sitting. Renee was focused on Ron and didn't notice their approach, Hemione used the opportunity to her advantage and before either Renee or Severus realized what happened she made her move, "Renee, have you met Severus? He is a huge Tornados fan too". And with that she walked away knowing Severus was going to kill her as he didn't even follow professional quidditch.

Problems solved, Hermione went and sat down next to Narcissa. She had hoped to strike up a conversation but the woman just gave her one word answers to everything she said. Eventually Narcissa turned to her and told her she didn't need a babysitter and to go back to her drummer. Hermione had no idea what to do with that, she looked over and Lucy still seemed quite entertained with Luna's company. She left the box to grab a smoke, a drink and some peace. She grabbed mead from concession and grabbed a bench outside of the stadium. She was on her third cigarette when she saw Severus leaving with Renee. She was happy her taciturn friend had actually landed the model, he deserved a little happiness or at the very least a little nookie.

Hermione realized she had taken on Voldemort and Death Eaters but was hiding from a drummer and a society witch. She went back up to the box with a quick stop for a glass of wine. She found Lucy and Luna were still together talking. Lucy looked up at her apologetically but Hermione just smiled, toasted her with her mead and sat down next to Narcissa. Lucy knew they were good and Hermione was determined to figure out what whether she was chasing after a fantasy or reality. Hermione handed the wine to Narcissa who looked grateful for the alcohol and the interruption and decided to forgo the harsh comments. The two witches talked amicably and a good time was had by all for the rest of the match. Angelina had a career day but it was barely noticed by the attendees in the box. Unfortunately she was as skilled with a wand as she was with a broom as Ron found out the next morning. Angelina had gone into the guest room and found her sister curled up with the ginger gigolo. He should have known better than anger Fred's girlfriend. The hex was apparently called the Noct Leprechaun. It took Severus and Hermione 30 minutes to stop laughing and another two hours to figure out how to unstick Ron from the wall, change him back from green and give him clothes. Of course the two hours were because, Harry, Ginny, the twins, all of the SRP, Dean and Seamus all showed up first, breakfast was eaten and several pictures were taken which eventually resurfaced at a Weasley Christmas party.

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She spent the next week perfecting the wards and overseeing the other security measures. Even though she was no longer officially needed she stuck around to oversee the work, which mostly consisted of her coming up with reasons to oversee Narcissa. The system they were developing was very complex but they would be done soon and she felt like she was running out of time to sort out her feelings for the Lady of the Manor.

Being the biggest swot in Hogwarts history, Hermione decided the way to find out about her chances with Narcissa was with a controlled experiment. After the match Narcissa had softened towards her but still wouldn't stop picking fights. The bickering had taken a new tone almost playful in nature. Now that Hermione knew that Narcissa had to be harboring some sort of feelings for her, she frequently sought the blonde out. She would make sure that she was always standing close to Narcissa when they fought and went out of the way to come into contact with the witch. She would find reasons to touch her whether it was putting a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, or grabbing her waist to slide by her. Narcissa's reactions to her little experiment were all over the place. The first time she put her hand on her waist, Narcissa dropped her drink. There were times where she would seem to lean into the contact and others where she would run from the room. She made a mental note of every reaction so she would have enough data to reach a conclusion. She realized she was completely disturbed to be lusting over the woman who would have happily handed her over to Voldemort and her little experiment was enough to land her a nice padded room at St. Mungo's but Hermione couldn't stop herself if she wanted to.

Draco had started to spend more time with Hermione after the duel in the ballroom and the two were getting on relatively well. Draco had committed to the personal make over and Hermione was starting to consider him a friend. He was consistently either around someone from the team or playing with the muggle gadgets. He was spending most of his free time around Lee and surprisingly, Penelope and Justin. They seemed to work well together despite their obvious differences. Hermione wasn't the only person in the house dealing with an obsession; Draco had discovered technology and had fallen madly, deeply in love with microchips and all the wonderful things they provided. She was debating staging an intervention but figured if he got good enough they could hire him on.

He didn't seem fazed by her recent actions with his mother and for that she was grateful. She had avoided the subject of Narcissa when around Draco and she had avoided the topic of her torture as well. One day her previous time in the Manor came up and he gave her the same short answer Narcissa had given Snape, "you don't know the whole story". She could see he was extremely upset and was ready to inquire further when Bill came in and interrupted, unfortunately she was needed for a complicated sticking charm for one of Luna's traps. She made a note to herself to find out exactly what the whole story really was and soon.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Still Rowling's, still not for profit.

A/N. Last chapter I had to have a bit fun, this chapter is far more serious. There is nothing particularly graphic in here but there are references to violence, including domestic violence and rape.

One of my coworkers has agreed to beta. If something is wrong, it is all her fault. I have 7 and 8 pretty close to done and am just tweaking/awaiting changes. Chapter 7 has lemony stuff and as I am a noob, so I am a bit nervous about posting. I think this will probably be 9-10 chapters total when done. Thanks for reading, reviews are awesome balls of happiness that make me do a silly dance through my office.

Chapter 6

She was having trouble getting Narcissa alone to find out her side of what happened at the Manor. Although the witch spared no chance to spar with Hermione, she seemed equally skilled at avoiding being alone in a room with her. Soon enough she got her chance though. Draco came barging into her room one evening, "Hermione please I need your med kit". She gave him the kit but raced after him to assess whatever was wrong herself. She was worried one of her team had been injured.

They rushed across the Manor and ended up in the one place Hermione had avoided since she first set foot in the Manor, the sitting room where she had been Bella's guest. Narcissa was lying on the floor next to the fire place, her face was bruised and her lip was bleeding. As Hermione approached her it became clear why she wasn't moving, her leg had a nasty break and Narcissa was holding her ribs.

"You shouldn't have brought her here Draco, she shouldn't see this, she shouldn't be in here." Draco ignored his mother's pleas and started to work on healing her. Hermione set up on the other side and proceeded to run diagnostic spells on Narcissa's ribs. Two were broken. She gently lifted the older woman's shirt and cast an episkey on both of her broken ribs. Narcissa flinched as each rib was healed. After Narcissa had been healed the three took seats. Draco took his usual seat next to his mother on the couch and Hermione took Lucius' chair nearby.

"So would you like to tell me what's going on?"

Narcissa didn't answer Hermione but instead turned to Draco, "go make sure your father doesn't return as this conversation needs to take place between Hermione and I."

As Draco left, he closed the door behind him. Narcissa warded the door and performed several privacy spells. "Ms. Granger...Hermione...I think this you need to see as opposed to hear, I presume you are a legilimens".

Hermione nodded, Snape had taught her and was far more successful with her than Harry. She moved over to the couch and performed the spell. She was pulled in to Narcissa's memories. She let Narcissa guide her through her mind. The first memory to appear was from earlier that day. Narcissa and Lucius were arguing in the sitting room. She was furious and yelling, "I have stood by your side throughout this marriage, I have ignored your infidelities and have taken your abuse. I supported you even when you backed that vile creature in the first war. You continuously expose our son to danger you fool, first with the Dark Lord and now with this. I have had enough of your foolishness and your abuse. You are a monster and this is marriage is over. You build your fort; I am taking Draco and leaving. You can sit in your impenetrable castle and rot alone you vile fuck!"

The first shot was to her ribs, the next two to her face and the last a kick to her leg. He stood over her laughing, "You stupid bitch, you remember what happened last time you tried to leave me. You are going nowhere wife, you will do what I say, when I say. Who do you think will save you? That little witch you cry over? I see the way you look at her when you think no one is looking. You think she will help you? Or Severus? You sat back and watched your sister torture her; you dragged Severus into the mess with Draco and made him take the unbreakable vow. No one will help you, you are known throughout the wizarding world as the Ice Queen, where are you going to go? Who do you think would take you?"

Hermione felt a dragging sensation and closed her eyes to steady herself, when she reopened them she was still in the sitting room but Bella was there instead of Lucius, "you don't need that fool Cissy, he has failed our Lord too many times. It is Draco's turn now. He has been given a great honor."

Hermione guessed she was looking in sometime during the summer between fifth and sixth years. Lucius would have been in Azkaban and Draco was being forced to take the dark mark. What Narcissa said next would have surprised her if she hadn't seen the prior memory, "having Lucius locked away was the greatest gift I could have been given and I have no intention of letting Draco follow your lunatic Lord. Bella you have spent most of your life locked away in a cell, look at what you have become. We can go and leave it all behind, Lucius, Rudolphus, this madness! Stop this, now is the time we can walk away."

Narcissa made the mistake of not putting up her guard; she underestimated her sister's rage and insanity. Bellatrix looked completely puzzled at first but that quickly turned to anger, she hit Narcissa with the cruciatus curse and held it on her for several minutes. After she let it go Narcissa was still curled into a fetal position sobbing, and Bellatrix leaned close to her sister and whispered, "Cissy, Draco will take his mark and you will comply with what we request of you. You always thought you were better than the rest of us, first trying to run away from your engagement to Lucius and Father had to go fetch you, then refusing to take a mark and now this. You belong with us, you are one of us. Do you really think the Order of the Peacock will take you in, do you think Andy will open her arms up to you after all this time. You know what will happen if you leave. Crucio!" Narcissa writhed on the floor screaming and eventually lost consciousness, Hermione was engulfed in darkness, the memory not returning until Narcissa woke up.

Hermione looked around as the room reappeared. Bellatrix was joined by the Carrows and Fenir Greyback. Hermione shivered, she knew this was just a memory but Fenir had been part of the snatchers that had brought her here for her torture. He was very interested in keeping Hermione for himself. Fenir's taste was known to run to the sadistic side on a good day. Hermione remembered Neville and Ginny's stories about the Carrows and she knew this was not going to end well for Narcissa. She almost wished she could skip the rest of the memory, but Narcissa was showing her these for a reason. She looked back down to the beautiful blonde who was trying to get up off the floor. Bellatrix kicked her sister back down. Peter Pettigrew and Atrox Yaxley walked in dragging Draco along with them. Draco looked as if he had taken quite a beating himself, he was bruised and favoring his right leg. Pettigrew shoved Draco down next to his mother. Bellatrix hit both Draco and Narcissa with the cruciatus in succession. She sat down next to her sister's head and started stroking her platinum hair, "Cissy, either you and Draco do as you're told or you will end up center stage at the next revel. In the meantime you will be entertaining Fenir while Draco helps our Lord relieve some of his stress from the boy who lived. I won't make you take the mark but Draco will take his and you will obey"

Narcissa pushed herself up and looked at Draco who looked as though he was ready to try and fight their way out. She put her hand over his and looked at Bellatrix, "I will do what you want Bella but Draco will not be harmed, do you understand?" Bellatrix laughed and nodded her agreement.

The memory faded and Hermione found herself back in the room except this time she was looking at herself, Ron and Harry. Bellatrix was in the corner with Narcissa whispering frantically. Hermione walked over to where they were whispering to hear what they were saying.

"You pull your wand on me again Cissy and I will end you. I have kept the Dark Lord off of Draco despite his failures but if we fail again there will be nothing I can do to protect any of you. If this is Potter we will be back in his good graces, if we fail again we will all be entertainment at the revels. You think Lucius' attentions are bad, you think his 'punishments' for you and Draco are something to be feared? What do you think will happen if Avery or Dolohov are given a shot at you, at Draco? If you aren't going to help then stay in the corner and out of the way".

Narcissa was actually going to help them. Everything she had done was to protect herself and her son. Hermione was seeing both Narcissa and Draco in a new light. She realized her little unhealthy obsession was turning to something much stronger way too quickly. She wondered what she would do in Narcissa's shoes, what she acts would commit to keep her family safe.

The next memory was in what she presumed was Narcissa's bedroom. Narcissa was lying in the bed, her face an unreadable mask. She was even more closed off than usual. She obviously had company recently but she didn't look like someone who had been pleased. The bathroom opened up and Voldemort walked out. He laughed at Narcissa and walked out the door. Hermione now knew what Narcissa's punishment was for their failure. She wondered if it was just Voldemort she had to deal with. It looked like Hermione wasn't the only person was tortured in this house. With the Dark Lord gone, Hermione wondered what she was still doing here but she quickly had her answer as Lucius stormed in the room.

He backhanded Narcissa, "are you enjoying your time as a death eater whore? This is your fault, if you didn't baby Draco he would have been man enough to deal with Dumbledore and he wouldn't have covered for Potter" he screamed. She snarled at him and pulled her wand from under the pillow and hit him with a cruciatus. "I was protecting our son, you and my sister. It was either me or Draco and I chose to keep my son safe from that creature you bastard." The memory faded and she was back in the sitting room with Narcissa in the present.

"I have always regretted my treatment of you, my inaction. I did what I had to and that do not regret. From the day I married Lucius I used to come in here for solitude. While they plotted and planned for their high and mighty lord, I would escape the only way I could. I would read books. Whatever I could find, fantasies, romances, histories and even fairy tales. I actually loved reading fairy tales ever since I was a child, noble wizards saving the princess. I always wanted a way out, a prince to save me.

When the threats started and Lucius mentioned he was going to hire your company, I couldn't get you off of my mind, but then you refused and in a way I was happy that I would be able to stop being consumed with thoughts of you. You saved me from the Dark Lord, you helped save my son, and you protected me at the end of the final battle. Yes, I know you and Harry are the reason we were allowed to stay in the Great Hall instead of being whisked away to Azkaban or killed on the spot. Somewhere along the way I started to think about you as my noble witch from my fairytales. When I would read those stories during the war, I would sometimes stare out the window at that yew and think about sneaking out and just running, but I would never leave Draco to Lucius' influence alone. All that time you sat in that tree watching us I thought of you as my guardian, despite what happened in this room I truly felt safe in here knowing you were watching. It's why I spent my evenings here, Lucius hadn't raised his hands to me or Draco since the war, but I knew it was only time until he did. I felt like having you there was keeping me safe. When you took on that would be assassin for us, everything became real". She laughed at Hermione's shocked look," come sit in my seat on the couch and look up at the shield".

Narcissa slid over to make room for Hermione on the couch. As she looked up to the ornate shield with the Malfoy coat of arms on it, within the bottom part of the shield was a reflection. She saw her perch on the yew. Narcissa had known she was there the whole time. They had been watching each other.

She felt her heart break for everything Narcissa had been through and she tried to find the words to console her, comfort her, something that could make it better. Narcissa saw the look in her eyes, cupped her face with her hands and whispered, "don't you dare. You will not pity me. I did what I needed to do to protect my family and I would do it again"

"I saw you hex Lucius..."

Narcissa put her finger on Hermione's lips, "why didn't I hex them, hex him to defend myself? Why didn't I run? In the wizarding world fathers have first right to raise their heirs. Ask Arthur what would have happened if I showed up with Draco. No matter what I said or proved, Lucius would have been able to keep him. Even the Order would have enforced it. Didn't you ever wonder why Severus was sent back to Tobias every summer? Sirius was able to stay with the Potters because he was disowned, the aurors would have dragged him back if Uncle Orion wanted him. As long as a father wants his heir, he will not be removed under any circumstance. Every bloody lip, every curse, every humiliation I have ever had was worth it to keep my son from being raised by that monster. You saw what Draco was like with Lucius' influence; imagine the man he would be if he were raised without mine".

Hermione didn't know what to say to that. She knew that Narcissa was a brave woman, braver than she was. It was easier to die nobly and foolishly in a blaze of glory than to have your life, strength and power sucked away slowly to protect others. She didn't have the words so she closed the remaining distance between them and kissed the blonde. Narcissa returned her soft kiss but then abruptly pulled back, "I am still a married woman, I can't do this yet."

Hermione knew the wizarding world was more conservative than the muggle one but she figured divorce was merely a technicality at this point. She said as much and started to push Narcissa back on the sofa. As the two kissed they channeled their obsession, their pain and their need, feverishly devouring each other's lips. Narcissa paused, pulled herself up onto her elbows and looked into Hermione's eyes, "Hermione, I want you. Not just for right now, I want you to be mine. If you can't handle that, walk away. If you stay, there will be no more date stories for Rita Skeeter. No more drummers, no one else, nobody touches you but me."

Hermione felt as if she lost the ability to breathe. She stared into Narcissa's eyes for what seemed like eternity before she replied, "Narcissa, I have stalked, fantasized and obsessed about you for months. Do you really think I would have it any other way? I accept your terms and I give you mine. You will leave Lucius, I will protect you but this sham of a marriage will be over."

Narcissa nodded and Hermione reclaimed her lips. She was the happiest she had been in a long while but Fate had other plans. They were interrupted by someone began pounding loudly on the door. Hermione sighed, in her mind Fate was not only plotting against her, it was sitting at a table playing canasta with its friend Sexual Frustration and having a good laugh at her.

She knew of only one person who would be banging on the door like that, "Narcissa that is probably Lucius, do you trust me to deal with him?"

Narcissa looked up into her eyes, "with my life."

Hermione stood up and pulled her wand, "stay behind me." She unwarded the door and Lucius came barging in wand drawn.

"Ms. Granger, I need to have a conversation with my wife and I would ask you to leave us be" He pointed his wand directly at Hermione.

She slowly began to lower her wand which led Lucius to relax his stance. She sent a wandless and silent expellaramus at him taking his wand. She followed with a nasty hex making his blood feel like acid. She stalked over to him as he curled on the floor screaming. She decided she liked him best in fetal position. As she looked at him writhing on the floor of that room it brought back too many memories. She felt Narcissa's arm wrap around her forearm and she realized she wasn't the only one. She applied the counter spell, pushed Lucius on to his back and put her knee on his chest. She could hear her name being called and she looked up to see Severus, Draco and Luna standing in the doorway. She looked back down at Lucius and put her wand to his throat, "you will never raise your hands to Narcissa or Draco again and I expect you to grant her dissolution of marriage without any troubles. If you touch her again or fail to make her a divorcee, I will make her a widow. Do we understand each other?"

Lucius shakily agreed realizing he could not face both the Mafia and a pissed off Hermione Granger. She grabbed Narcissa's hand and they walked out of the room past a stunned Severus and Luna. Much to Hermione's surprise, Draco merely smirked and commented, "Granger this is completely creepy but I will be ok on three conditions, I never want to see you snogging, if you break her heart I will find a way to get to you and under no circumstance am I calling you mom!"

Narcissa squeezed her hand and said, "don't worry Draco, no snogging sessions until I am properly divorced"

Hermione saw Fate now had a Persian kitty and a monocle and was cackling at her while passing the popcorn to an equally amused Sexual Frustration and Bad Timing.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Still Rowling's, still not for profit, this is merely a writing exercise.

A/N THIS STORY IS RATED MATURE. If you are under the legal age of majority wherever you live please hit the back button immediately. This is for adults only.

First attempt at lemons, I am very nervous about publishing this. I hope it turned out ok. Chapter 8 is almost done, I am just cleaning it up and making a few changes and I have done my first draft of chapter 9 which will be the final chapter. Thank you for reading and as always thank you to the reviewers. Reviews are my Scooby Snacks!

Chapter 7

Narcissa stuck to her guns and although she spent most of her free time with Hermione she remained absolute on being divorced before they went further. Hermione sent most of her time cursing pureblood propriety but respected the witch's wishes and behaved herself. Luna had fared much better and was actually getting on very well with her newly acquired drummer. Hermione only wished she could have equal success in her relationship with Narcissa, as plutonic relationships and obsession really are poor bunkmates. The bickering continued between the two but now that they had acknowledged what was happening between them, both were enjoying their sparring matches fully as an outlet for their building frustration at not being able to do anything about it. They were both tallying points in their heads and both women were absolutely sure they were the one winning.

Their sparring matches were driving the rest of the house mad. Most of the house had started actively getting the two together so they would be spared the constant sniping. The twins, being tasteful as always, started a betting pool on whether they would kill each other or bed each other and when same would occur. So far the betting was evenly distributed between the two.

One morning Severus, Dennis and Hermione were leaving on a supply run when they ran into Narcissa at the floo unescorted. Hermione's suspicions were peaked when Narcissa immediately began to act nervously and clammed up when asked where she was going and why she wasn't bringing an escort. Hermione wasn't going to let this pass without a confrontation. The two witches ended up squaring off again with Hermione become increasingly frustrated with Narcissa's refusal to answer. Jealousy and paranoia took over not to mention that the last thing she needed was another mess to clean up. She finally just lost her cool and started yelling, "you have every bloody bounty hunter in Europe trying to haul you lot in and you respond by going shopping alone? What the hell are you shopping for that you don't want an escort?"

Dennis looked a bit eager as he had money on trying to kill each other and had this particular three day block. He was already playing with his new camera in his mind.

Narcissa knew when she was beat and she could hear footsteps of other people approaching so she leaned into Hermione and whispered, "I am going to Morgana's Secret to pick up special orders that came in. If I don't get them, they will send them back."

Hermione processed what she had said, swallowed hard and whispered back, "they can't just owl it over?"

Narcissa laughed and answered the question in a tone usually reserved for explaining things to small children and the exceptionally drunk, "I have to try them on".

Hermione went through every meditation technique she knew to try and keep her breathing steady but she was flustered and it showed. Narcissa was smiling and Hermione could almost see her add a point to her side of the scoreboard. There was no way she was conceding, "Well you can't go alone so Luna and I will accompany you. Girl's day out!"

From the absolutely adorable shade of red that began to color the other witch's ears, Hermione internally declared that match hers. She was to be armed escort to a lingerie store with the star of her own twisted fantasies, no matter how you cut it, she won.

Luna had entered the room along with Draco and Lee and they were patiently waiting along with Severus and Dennis to find out what this particular dust up was about. Hermione ignored their questions and just told Luna she had ten minutes to get ready for a shopping day. From the tone of her voice, the men realized asking questions could shorten their life spans and left to the women to their shopping. Dennis consoled himself as he was not getting his camera.

Twenty minutes later the three witches found themselves strolling down Diagon Alley. As they walked into Morgana's Secret Luna gave Hermione a knowing look and volunteered to guard the front. Hermione adjusted her, now expansive, mental Christmas list and added whatever imaginary creature Luna wanted to the list. She had no idea how she was going to come up with nargles or moon toads or whatever imaginary creature Luna was seeking, but Luna certainly earned them. Luna took a position near the door while the other two followed a saleswitch back to the dressing rooms. The changing rooms were somewhere between exceptionally ornate and dreadfully ostentatious, with two beautiful Louis XV chairs and a small table for tea. Hermione was about to sit down and grab herself a cuppa and a biscuit when Narcissa shot her a look. Conceding to the older witch's desire for privacy, Hermione stepped out to the front of the lavish purple satiny curtain that made up the entry to the room.

Hermione let her eyes wander the store while she paced in front of the room. It was taking sheer iron will to not to try and peek in. Once one has already committed to stalking, peeping Tom really isn't much of a leap. She heard the bell ring and reached for her wand. A couple came in and started to look around, they were holding hands and seemed more interested in the merchandise than the strange witch pacing about in the back so Hermione relaxed her guard. The couple continued to browse and didn't catch her attention again until they headed to the back so the woman could try things on. As they entered the dressing room next to Narcissa's, Hermione began to get nervous and very subtly transferred her wand into her shirt sleeve for quick retrieval. Something wasn't right about the couple. They seemed dressed normal (for the magical world) but something was off and she didn't know what had triggered that feeling. She very quietly queried as to the state of things on what she liked to think of as the fun side of the curtain. She didn't get a response and spoke louder hoping they just didn't hear her. She suddenly realized why the couple bothered her, the wizard had been in the file Harry and Ron gave her as someone with known connections to the Bonanos. She drew her wand and pushed the curtain aside. There she found a very scantily clad Narcissa Malfoy being held at wand point by the other witch. They had used a slicing hex to get through the thin wall. Hermione was impressed it had been done so quietly. Both of the saleswitches were unconscious in the rooms. Hermione felt a burning in her arm as she knocked off her feet from a reducto thrown by the wizard. She knew she didn't have long to respond so she ignored the pain and pushed herself up to defend herself. As she took a fighting stance the wizard was blasted back into his booth and lay slumped in the corner. Hermione cast an expelliarmus at the witch while she was distracted by her partner's sudden departure from their side of the dressing room. Narcissa finished the job with the tea pot.

Hermione looked at Narcissa who was clad in nothing but a very flimsy royal blue negligee. She took a calming breath and then turned to Luna who was checking to make sure her spell didn't kill the wizard, "Luna, I owe you big time. I don't think any of this lot are going to wake up any time soon, why don't you give us a few minutes"

"You don't owe me for the wizard, it is part of my job description. You probably have 10-15 minutes until the aurors show up," and with that Luna shut the curtain and walked up to the front to slow down any would be interlopers. Hermione looked at Narcissa with the intent to say something insightful and clever but looking at her dressed in the scandalous nightie left the normally verbose witch dumbstruck. It didn't matter; Narcissa had no intent on talking.

The only thing the blonde said was, "screw propriety" and with that Narcissa slammed the younger witch up against the wall, pinning her arms above her head and began to attack her lips. Hermione gasped as she felt teeth on her lower lip, a flash of pain and tasted blood. She may not have been a death eater but Narcissa certainly had a bit of a dark side. Hermione pushed Narcissa off of her and backwards.

Narcissa looked stunned until she realized that she was being pushed towards the table. The cups soon joined the remains of the pot on the floor as Narcissa took their place, leaning against the wall behind her for support. Hermione locked her into a smoldering kiss and pulled a small switchblade out of her pocket that was a gift from Severus. Narcissa gasped as she popped the knife open. She wasn't exactly a mouse in the bedroom, but the blonde witch brought out Hermione's own little dark and possessive side. She slow cut through the negligee exposing the pureblood's beautiful body to the air. Throwing the flimsy garment aside, Hermione pushed herself in-between the blonde's legs, pulled them around her as she began to nibble on the witch's ear. Hermione whispered, "you have no idea how long I've wanted you, how many nights I have fantasized about you. I am not Lucius and I will never stray as long as you are mine. I do not share and I do not play well with others, you belong to me and me alone now." She began to trail kisses along Narcissa's jaw as she waited for her to answer. She quickly heard the one word she needed to hear, "Yes".

Hermione knew they had limited time and could feel Narcissa's desire through her pant leg. Her kisses moved down Narcissa's throat and to her shoulder. They would have time to explore later she needed Narcissa, Narcissa needed her and time was running out. She thrust into her with two fingers and began to set an unrelenting pace, repeatedly growling the mantra "mine" into her ear, as she roughly took her. The older witch moaned and arched into her touch matching her thrusts.

Narcissa Malfoy was easily considered the iciest woman in all of wizarding England and Hermione was just realizing how wrong the moniker Ice Queen was. Her gorgeous witch (and in both witches minds she was hers now) was alternating between answering her growl with promises that she was hers, begging to be fucked harder and screaming her pleasure. Hermione felt a twisted sense of power and pleasure knowing she was the one who turned the normally unflappable witch completely primal and incoherent. Hermione had thankfully cast a wandless silencing spell when she realized her witch was not the quiet type. Narcissa grabbed Hermione's hand and pushed off the table forcing Hermione to the floor. Hermione resumed her ministrations as Narcissa straddled her pulling at her jeans and soon Narcissa found her center. The two witches were matching each other's pace and Hermione was close. She grabbed a handful of blond hair and pulled Narcissa down into a kiss. As Hermione came she bit down on Narcissa's lip, drawing blood and matching her own lip. It was enough to push Narcissa over and she went rigid as wave after wave hit her. Hermione rolled them over and reclaimed Narcisssa's lips while continuing to drive into her. Narcissa was no longer in control of her body and wrapped her arms around Hermione to pull her as close as possible. Hermione could feel Narcissa's nails through her shirt as the witch dug into her back. As Hermione attacked her mouth, Narcissa could taste the blood from Hermione's lip combined with her own and it was enough to push her into a second orgasm.

As Narcissa came down Hermione stilled her hand and softened her kisses. Hermione rested her head on Narcissa's shoulder and nuzzled her neck while they held each other. They stayed like that for several minutes until Luna's patronus appeared.

The silver rabbit actually looked a bit miffed, "I can only have the aurors looking for crumpled-horned snorkacks for so long. Hurry it up already, you are lucky Harry and Ron are the lead aurors."

Narcissa looked as though she had just been thoroughly taken but with a quick scourgify and a few well cast grooming spells, Narcissa looked impeccable again. Hermione cleaned herself up as well and then repaired the negligee and just in time as their saleswitch seemed to be coming to. Hermione handed her the negligee and pointed to the rest of the items that were there for Narcissa, "she will take the lot, charge it to my account at Gringott's". With that the two witches left the shocked sales witch in the changing room finally letting in several very impatient aurors and mediwizards who were waiting.

Harry and Ron pulled her aside for a statement and she repeated an extremely edited version of what happened. They had been her friend for almost a decade now and obviously could tell what had happened and they did not look happy. It turned out both Ron and Harry had their money on the next week. She had no idea how to respond to every one betting on her love life.

She had hoped to give her statement and leave but unfortunately they were joined by a very miffed Minister. Hermione and Narcissa sat for another hour while Kingsley grilled Hermione on the whole situation. Hermione had to promise him they would keep him in the loop and find a way to end the situation quickly before he finally let them leave.

As she was walking out she whispered her thanks to Luna who replied, "no need, I just won the pool"

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The Manor was almost done but Hermione needed to find a way to end the bounties. It had been a few days since Morgana's Secret and she was getting tired of sneaking around with Narcissa. Narcissa and Hermione took turns sneaking into each other's bedrooms each evening and were stealing kisses where they could. Considering SRP was know specifically for its creations and consulting in security and the elaborate security systems that were set up on the Manor, plus Draco and Lucius were already clued in, she had no idea why she was required to go through the elaborate ruse. Bloody wizards, it was like turning back the clock to the Victorian era sometimes.

Their little bickering matches had changed into a new contest between them. It became a game of who could come up with the most risqué place or time to lay claim to each other. So far it had lead to a very heated snogging session in a cupboard, in response to being surprised and pushed into the cupboard Narcissa's hand ended up sneaking up Hermione's thigh at the breakfast table (she had choked on her juice). For revenge Hermione spent the day in an obscenely short skirt making sure to reveal way too much when no one else could see. That had gotten her shagged senseless on Lucius' desk when she was trying to install audio equipment. In the end she had to delete over 10 hours of footage over a handful of days.

She needed to call a meeting of SRP to try and decide what they were going to do; they couldn't spend the rest of their lives trying to protect the Malfoys from the mob. She couldn't spend her life stuck in this Manor. She needed to be alone with her witch. She spoke with Severus and after a bit of planning it was decided they needed to go on the offensive. Over breakfast she asked Justin to get everyone together in the elaborate dining room for an evening brainstorming session, that it was time to take on the mob. Justin said he would get everything she needed together.

Hermione had chosen the dining room for the meeting because it was one of the few rooms besides the study, kitchen, cellar and bedrooms that did not have portraits in it. Apparently the Malfoys of Christmas Past made Christmas present entirely too annoying one too many holidays in a row and all of the pictures were removed or blasted. She didn't trust the portraits, even dead they were still Malfoys.

That evening when she walked into the dining room with Draco and Narcissa they were surprised by what she saw. Not only had the entirety of SRP shown up but her friends shown. Harry and Ron had brought the entire Weasley clan including Percy who was awkwardly speaking with Penelope and Justin. Angelina and her sister had tagged along and were chatting with Ron and Harry. Minerva, Filius, Hagrid and even Poppy had shown up from Hogwarts. Blaise, Goyle, Seamus, Neville and Dean were swapping stories with Lee in a corner. She actually wasn't surprised that Blaise and Greg were there as they were good friends with Draco, but Seamus, Neville and Dean being there was quite a shock. The biggest surprise was that Lucy and Renee were sitting with Luna and Severus respectively. There was a huge stack of galleons in front of Luna and she wondered if there was anyone that wasn't in the pool.

She was near tears as she realized all these people had come to help her and were willing to risk their lives for them. She looked over at Narcissa and Draco and realized they were in the same condition and she wondered if they had ever had anyone make this sort of gesture for them before. She realized privacy had gone out the window but they were going to need every wand possible.

Hermione swallowed the lump in her throat and addressed the room, "Thank you for coming, for my team its part of the job but for you to be here for us is truly touching."

"I am not here for you, someone said free mead was being served" Came from one of the twins which garnered a laugh.

"Beverages aside, thank you for coming. I am sure everyone has been brought up to date in blatant violation of our confidentiality agreement" That garnered a few chuckles along with the nods, "So we have a problem, we need to convince the Bonano family to leave the Malfoys alone or we need to take on one the largest organized crime families in the magical and muggle world. As you can see we are between a rock and a hard place."

She took a breath and looked around the room, "That is why we are going to sell the Malfoys to the mob."

For a second the room was dead silent and then Lucy squeezed Luna's hand and said, "Holy fuck Granger, I am really happy you picked the blonde."

After that bedlam broke out.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Still Rowling's, still not for profit.

A/N. This is rated M for a reason and should not be read by anyone under 18 or whatever the legal age in your neck of the woods is.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this. The fact that people are following this story and have even added it to their favorites is huge and has really motivated me to keep writing. I especially want to say thank you to the reviewers. Knowing someone out there likes what I am doing is a huge motivation. Reviews are my Scooby snacks.

I broke this chapter in to two parts and will post the second half in a bit. The last chapter is almost done and I expect the whole story will be complete very soon. Might even get it done today.

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Chapter 8

After the meeting, Hermione went to Lucius' study to fill him in on the plan. Only Severus and Narcissa accompanied her. Severus took a chair in front of the desk, but Hermione and Narcissa sat together on the couch. From their proximity and the way Narcissa's hand was curled up around her arm it was very evident where the soon to be former Mrs. Malfoy was going to end up after this was over. Lucius was fuming but held his tongue as they explained the plan. Hermione seemed to be rubbing it in and even went as far as to kiss Narcissa while they were sitting there. He never said a word but it was clear he wanted to kill Hermione. Once they were finished explaining the plan he spoke.

"So let me see if this is correct. You sit here with my wife and expect me to cooperate with you. You are going to offer to sell us to the Bonanos but only if they show themselves. Once they show you are going to use a muggle micryfone to get them to confess and apprehend them. Why would the believe you? How are you going to stop them from storming the place and why would you think they would confess? What is going to keep them from bringing an army? And why on earth would I agree to let myself be bait and put my faith in the hands of blood traitors who want me dead and a mudblood who hates me when I know your goal is to abscond with both my wife and my money?"

She didn't mean to laugh but the conversation was going how she expected, "we are working on making it believable now, but they will come. I will be controlling the security systems and the wards through this control." She showed him the remote with each of the sections of the Manor labeled. There were 15 buttons in total, 13 labeled for sections of the Manor and 2 on the bottom that were labeled master on and master off. "I tied the magic together with the technology. I will only lower the wards and traps on the sitting room. If any more than 7 people come through I will immediately lock them in to the room. Once they come I will negotiate for Narcissa and Draco, hopefully I can negotiate a confession through the negotiations. If not we are still in the same position we were in before this started and maybe by trapping them here we can convince them to concede to some concessions. And your wife is leaving you whether she is with me or not so get over it, it's not like you don't have a few mistresses to keep you warm."

"No. I won't do it. I paid you to protect me and get me out of this situation and I refuse to be bait." He looked to Severus, "as a fellow Slytherin would you ever concede to any of this if the shoe was on the other foot."

Severus gave him the same nasty sneer that still gave more than a few Hogwarts students nightmares, "as a Slytherin, I would never have needed our services because I would not have been in this situation in the first place you incompetent ponce. How you lived through the Dark Lord's reign is beyond me considering you fucked up every task he ever gave you. The diary, the ministry, bloody hell Lucius, you lost a duel to your house elf! You are a sniveling cow dressed as a man. Take the bloody terms or see if I don't solve everyone's problems right here"

Lucius was spitting tacks but took a second to comport himself. She could see the wheels turning in his mind, "If you want my cooperation then it will be my terms. I won't wear a micryfone, let someone else wear them, I am not being recorded."

Both Hermione and Severus nodded seeming to concede the point, neither one feeling the slightest urge to explain unidirectional versus omnidirectional microphones to the now petulant pureblood.

Happy with this concession, Lucius pushed on, "And I carry the remote."

Hermione jumped up on this one. "Absolutely not! We can't have you dropping the wards and apparating out the minute your knees start quivering. There is no way I am letting you near this control after last time!"

Lucius smirked, "then I won't do it. You can't do this without me, I have the position at this table, I will give you a wizard's oath."

"I notice you wouldn't take an unbreakable vow" Hermione countered.

"Fine, I will make an unbreakable vow that I will not leave." Lucius promised.

They made the vow and Lucius promised he would not leave the premises. Apparently he just needed to feel in control because he seemed thrilled with the plan after that. Things were going according to plan.

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That evening she caught Narcissa on her way to the dining room and dragged her out to the garden. She knew she had to make up for using her as bait and she set out to woo the witch a bit. She imagined it had been a long time since anyone had extended any sort of romantic gesture to her. She had decided to go with a cliché and prepared a picnic basket which she set up under the yew tree. They shared a bottle of wine and tempted fate by discussing plans for the future, Narcissa wanted to clean up Black Castle. The property was beautiful but had been tainted by the dark magic used for so many years. Hermione agreed to help her fix up the property. After dinner they took a stroll through the gardens and as conversation turned to kisses they returned to Hermione's quarters where Hermione spent the rest of the evening showing Narcissa how devoted she was to her happiness.

It was about 2:30 in the morning and Hermione was laying in bed thinking about the events of the day. Narcissa was curled up against her fast asleep. During the meeting the two women didn't even bother with trying to hide their relationship. Everything was coming to an end one way or another and Narcissa finally tossed propriety out the window as she was not willing to spend what could be the last days of their lives sneaking about like teenagers.

Hermione looked down at the woman who had gone from obsession to lover and knew that she would keep her safe even if it took her own life to do it. She closed her eyes and started falling back to sleep when she felt her witch start kissing her way down her body. She moaned as Narcissa lavished her breasts with kisses and nibbled on her nipples. She hissed a little when Narcissa brought her leg up to her center.

"A bit sore love" Narcissa laughed. Hermione's body was marked with multiple scratches, bites and bruises from the last few days. It seemed that Hermione wasn't the only one with a dark side and she was walking a bit gingerly lately.

Narcissa ran her tongue over a rather deep bruise, "why don't you lay back and let me kiss everything and make it better?"

Hermione assumed the question was rhetorical, but she wouldn't have been able to answer if it wasn't. She ran her hands through her lover's hair as the blonde worked her way down her stomach, kissing and licking every inch she could get to on the way. Narcissa teased her, softly kissing her folds before moving to her thighs and Hermione cried out in frustration. She tightened her grip on the blonde's hair as Narcissa kissed and licked everywhere but where she needed her.

"Please baby," she begged and tried to pull her witch to her. That only served to get her hands smacked away by a laughing Narcissa. She finally showed mercy and leaned in to taste her lover. Hermione's hands were soon back in her hair as she began to attack the young witch showing no mercy. Her tongue was soon joined by her fingers and Hermione started to mewl and buck against her as she approached her peak. Narcissa wrapped her other hand around Hermione's thigh to hang on to her as her body was rock with spasms. She pulled herself up and captured Hermione's lips in a scorching kiss.

"See I told you a kiss would make it better"

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The meeting was set up with the Bonanos after quite a bit of bickering over location. Hermione wouldn't budge as to the Manor. It looked like they were at an impasse when the family suddenly conceded and agreed to come there. The arrangements were for Angelo Bonano, the boss of the family, to come to the Manor with Robert Bonano, his nephew and Alicia's father and 5 guards. Hermione was ecstatic she convinced them to agree so easily. She had figured she would have had to dicker over terms for another few days before they would cave. It seemed everything was coming together as planned.

Everyone chipped in on setting up the house. Part of the deal was that only the SRP was to be in the Manor during the meet so all preparations were made ahead of time. Minerva had created a Floo connection to the hospital wing in Hogwarts and Poppy had set up a triage unit in case everything went south at the meet. The wards were double and triple checked and Lucius was trained and grilled on using the remote. It was easy enough a toddler could do it, but this is the man who was outwitted by a 12 year old Harry, beat twice by a house elf and was done over by the D.A. 5th year. His track record necessitated multiple sessions just to make sure. This plan depended on Lucius and the last thing they needed was for him to screw everything up.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Still Rowling's, still not for profit.

A/N. This is rated M for a reason and should not be read by anyone under 18 or whatever the legal age in your neck of the woods is.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this. The fact that people are following this story and have even added it to their favorites is huge and has really motivated me to keep writing. I especially want to say thank you to the reviewers. Knowing someone out there likes what I am doing is a huge motivation. Reviews are my Scooby snacks. i guess this doesn't count as two chapters in one day as I broke this one up. I hope you like it.

I am almost done with the last chapter. I think I will post it as one but I might break it into two. The story will be complete very soon.

Chapter 9

"No! It's not happening, I am not leaving…" Narcissa repeated again. It was the night before they were meeting the Bonanos and Hermione was trying to convince Narcissa to stay in her flat during the confrontation.

"They won't care if you aren't there tomorrow; I am supposed to be negotiating for you and Draco anyways. The plan will still work without you, Draco is an excellent duelist, and there will only be 7 of them coming into the sitting room. Even if he brings his best guns we can handle this, I can't worry about you and deal with our doggy friend from across the pond." At this point Hermione, as a woman, should have realized the mistake she made and stopped her lips from moving.

"So I leave my son and hope that my absence doesn't ruin everything. Why? Do you think I can't handle myself in a duel? I realize that you have become my own personal knight and savior but I am pretty damn good with a wand in my own right, especially when I am not stripped down to my knickers. I am not going to run and hide from this despite you thinking me a coward and a weakling." Narcissa looked on the verge of tears but she would never give Hermione the satisfaction. She walked over to the window to clear her mind and hide her emotions.

Hermione came up behind her, wrapped her arms around Narcissa and kissed her neck, "That's not what I meant. I know you can cast a mean hex remember we were on opposite sides last time. I am not worried because I think you are weak, I am worried….." she let her sentence trail off and hoped she didn't have to finish. Narcissa wasn't having it though. Hermione sighed and rested her chin on Narcissa's shoulder. She saw their reflection in the window and made her decision, "I am worried about you because I can't get you off my mind, because I have spent the last 4 and half months dedicated to you, because I know I won't be able to breathe if I don't have you near, because if something happens to you now I would be lost…..because I am falling in love with you."

Narcissa turned and wrapped her arms around Hermione's neck and kissed away the tears that had started to fall, "this will work, we will be together Hermione. I know this in my heart." She led the younger witch to the bed. That night the rough play they had engaged in previously was replaced by soft caresses, bites with butterfly kisses and screams were replaced with shudders and whispered promises. They knew that this could be their last moments on the Earth and they spent them showing each other every word they couldn't say and every emotion they couldn't explain.

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The Bonanos were set to apparate in at 5:00 p.m. exactly. It was five of and Hermione was all nerves. Narcissa and Draco were outside of the sitting room with Severus, Lee and Luna. Hermione was standing next to Lucius with Justin and Penelope flanking them. Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco hands were cuffed in back of them for show. They were trick cuffs from a muggle 'magic' shop, but it gave the impression of their captivity. Lucius had put the remote behind his body right next to his hands and had practiced pushing the buttons no less than 50 times leading up to this. Reaching it was awkward but it gave him the control he wanted and the practice made sure he wouldn't screw it up. At 4:59 Lucius dropped the wards on the sitting room and the Bonanos apperated in. Lucius immediately reset the wards. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as the Bonanos took their seats to negotiate. Their escort, including the wizard Hermione had dueled in the garden, stood behind them.

Angelo Bonano looked around the room, leaned back in his chair as if he owned the place and inquired, "Where are the other two and your coworkers?"

Hermione didn't like his comfort level, "they are close by, Narcissa and Draco are also bound." She spun Lucius around to show his cuffs."We come to terms first."

"What terms do we need to negotiate, give me the Malfoys, I give you lots of money."

Hermione knew that he wouldn't negotiate without something big on the table, he would never allow himself to look weak in his families eyes by allowing his grandniece's killers to walk free unless there was a good enough reason. "I have connections in the Ministry, I am friends with the Minister, numerous aurors, and various department heads including Arthur Weasley who has cost you quite a bit of change lately. I can get your shipments cleared and get the Aurors Office to back off of you. I will show you memories showing Draco never actively took part in that raid and even withstood the cruciatus curse rather than harm Alicia. The best part is you get to keep Lucius to maim or murder in any way you see fit."

Lucius' mouth dropped for a second and then shock was replaced gave his trademark haughty smirk, "I didn't know you had it in you Ms. Granger, how very Slytherin of you."

She didn't even look his way as she quipped, "yeah well I have had quite a bit of Slytherin in me lately"

"You stupid little bitch…" began the now furious pureblood but before he could finish his sentence Robert cut in.

"No! They all pay, no deals. We are family! My wife and my child will be avenged."

Angelo turned to Robert, "Yes but business is business and frankly nephew you are a bit of an idiot." With that two of the soldiers escorting them pinned Robert down to the chair and used binding spells to tie him down. Being a muggle, Robert had no defense.

"The boy was there, he pays too. I will give you Narcissa and in exchange you clear our shipments for a year."

Robert struggled against the bindings to no avail. Hermione felt bad for the father despite his rather gruesome plans for her lover, but live by the sword and all..."You give me Narcissa and give me Draco and I clear your shipments for two years. The only way you leave here is if we drop the wards and I know we all want this to end amicably."

Angelo laughed, "I get to hex Draco a couple of times for good measure."

Hermione smirked, everything was going exactly how she had figured, "Done." She then yelled out, "bring em in"

Severus, Lee and Luna brought the cuffed Draco and Narcissa into the room.

Draco looked furious, "you fucking mudblood bitch, you sell my father, let them torture me all so you can bed my mother"

Angelo stood up and poured himself a drink. He laughed at Draco then turned back to Robert and said, "This whole thing was way too easy. Milt"

Upon hearing his name, Milt (who Hermione had been referring to as the golden retriever) pointed his wand at Robert. She had to wonder, what kind of name was Milt for an assassin, maybe your accountant or dentist, but an assassin? Milt? He couldn't get a nickname or something.

"I am sorry Robert," Angelo grumbled, "but business is business and you were on a short leash with me as it was. Malfoy's offer was too good to turn down." he then addressed Hermione. "You know I heard you were the best. Your use of technology and magic cutting edge and yet here we are. Why are you using on site recording equipment which can so easily be tampered with or destroyed. For all your skill where you really failed was planning. You trusted Lucius Malfoy and that's what cost you your lives.

With that approximately 5-6 more wizards apparated into the room. They had used side-along apparition and brought muggle enforcers with them. It was standing room only and approximately 10-12 wands and 8 or 9 guns were pointing at the now outnumbered SRP members. Lucius brought his hands out from around his back and threw the handcuffs in the corner.

He waived the remote at Hermione, "I dropped the wards for them and I have raised them again, see master on and master off. Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me."

Another muggle mobster came in to the room carrying the hard drive they were using to record the audio and video. Angelo pulled out a 9mm and put 5 rounds into it.

"You see Ms. Granger, I am going to get my shipping routes through Mr. Malfoy's companies with no time constraints, plus free reign to use the companies as we see fit and the family will be receiving half of the poor widower's inheritance. Mr. Malfoy is going to take his half and retire early, maybe find a new bird since his hen seems to have flown the coop. Unfortunately she and his son will have died along with the rest of you in a tragic explosion from the bomb planted by Robert here who will make the mistake of being too close to the blast. It will only do minimal damage to the manor but obliterate your bodies. Don't bother trying to fight, there are over 140 wizards and enforcers here as we get Malfoy Manor as part of the deal. I am going to enjoy my new head quarters. You resist and I have a go at your little blonde witch. You two might as well take those fake cuffs over but everyone hand over your wands"

Angelo took the remote from Lucius, the wizards took their wands and they were escorted to the main dining room where Dennis was sitting. Their wands were placed in a bin at the front of the room. Hermione appreciated the irony of the plan ending here as this was the room they created it in. Once they were in the room Lucius took the gun from Angelo and pointed it at Hermione, "I just want you to know mudblood, I am going to show Cissy why they call me ripper before I kill her" and with that fired twice into her chest dropping Hermione to the ground. Narcissa ran to her and held her in her limp lover in her arms.

"You fucking bastard"

Lucius smiled for the first time in weeks, "I told you not to run from me, I have wanted to do that since that little bitch walked in the door. Fitting to kill a mudblood with a muggle weapon"

Milt, the homicide happy golden retriever, had kept her wand and was looking at it, "this is a nice wand, about 12 inches, what is this walnut? I wonder what the core is."

Lucius looked over to the wand and muttered one word.

"Fuck!"


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Still Rowling's, still not for profit.

A/N. This is rated M for a reason and should not be read by anyone under 18 or whatever the legal age in your neck of the woods is.

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this. This is the last chapter here and honestly I don't think I would have gone this far if it wasn't for everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. If it wasn't for you guys, I may not have even bothered writing this story. I can't actually thank the reviewers enough, so I will shamelessly plug. Many of the reviewers are brilliant authors and everyone should go check out their stuff when you are done here. Although I now have a beta (and I thank her for her help with this) I wanted to specifically wanted to thank those that volunteered.

I really hope you like the ending. I am thinking about writing a story with either Bella or Pansy, but I probably won't get anything new up until September. I appreciate all the kindness shown to me by the members of this site. Thank you again. As always reviews are my Scooby snacks.

Angelo took the remote from Lucius, the wizards took their wands and they were escorted to the main dining room where the rest of the SRP were sitting. Their wands were placed in a bin at the front of the room. Hermione appreciated the irony of the plan here as this was the room they created it in. Once they were in the room Lucius took the gun from Angelo and pointed it at Hermione, "I just want you to know mudblood, I am going to show her why they call me ripper before I kill her" and with that fired twice into Hermione's chest dropping Hermione to the ground. Narcissa ran to her and held her in her limp lover in her arms.

"You fucking bastard"

Lucius smiled for the first time in weeks, "I told you not to run from me, I have wanted to do that since that little bitch walked in the door. Fitting to kill a mudblood with a muggle weapon"

Milt, the homicide happy golden retriever, had kept her wand and was looking at it, "this is a nice wand, about 12 inches, what is this walnut? I wonder what the core is?"

Lucius looked over to the wand and muttered one word.

"Fuck!"

:::::::::::::::::::

Chapter 10

Lucius pulled his wand and started moving to the door very quickly. Angelo grabbed him by the arm, "what the hell Malfoy?"

Lucius looked back at Hermione's fallen body, his face now ashen, "that's not her wand, it belonged to Bellatrix. The ministry took it after the battle."

Right then all hell broke out as aurors, Order members and the various volunteers seemed to appear out of nowhere. The SRP pulled their wands out of their various hiding places and a battle broke out throughout the Manor. Hermione jumped up and was immediately challenged by a very stunned Angelo. The boss pulled the trigger and nothing happened, as she approached him he cleared the chamber, hands shaking and tried to fire again. He couldn't get a word out before she hit him with a stunner which knocked him out cold. The muggles were going down quick as all of their guns seemed to be misfiring but the numbers were still on the side of the mob. The muggle enforcers soon figured out that their weapons would not work and started grabbing whatever was handy for makeshift weapons. Hermione ducked to avoid a vase, apparently they were adapting very well. She shot two stunners towards the culprit and moved towards her friend, the golden retriever. She looked for Narcissa and saw her chasing Lucius into the hall. Part of her wanted to go over and help Narcissa but she knew that she needed to let her do this. Lucius was due for an epic ass kicking and Narcissa was about to collect on every injustice and humiliation she had suffered through the marriage.

She looked around and saw the rest of her team engaged with the mobsters. Draco and Severus were side by side fighting of some of the wizards. The colors were flashing between them so fast she couldn't even guess what spells were being thrown. She saw Milt hit Dawlish with a spell strong enough to knock him through a china hutch along the wall. She had a feeling that the china would have been better in the fight than Dawlish and went towards her mark.

The assassin with an accountant's name wasted no time and threw an avada at her. She ducked and tossed a lazy stupify back at Milt to test his shields. She was wondering if it would be rude to ask tax advice mid duel. He easily threw it off and sent an imperious her way she moved aside and let it hit the wall behind her. The went back and forth for about 5 minutes poking at each others defenses when Milt got through with a stinger hitting her in the thigh. She dropped but moved into a roll dodging the green light of the avada he had followed up with. When she got up from the roll she fired back a locomotor mortis. He dodged the curse but it hit the enforcer behind him making Dennis' job much easier. Dennis yelled his thanks and jumped back into the fray, she added him to her now epically long Christmas list. After all it wasn't even a paid internship.

The assassin saw her favoring her right leg and went on the offensive, using sped and strength to push Hermione back. She could feel her shield weakening and he was coming on too strong for her to do anything more than block what was coming in. He sent a blasting curse her way which bounced off her shield but knocked her to the ground. There was no way her shield could resist another curse. He screamed, "sectumsempra" and a purple curse flew at Hermione.

"Sectumrepercussus" the spell hit Milt's and two shots of purple light hit him slicing his throat and chest and killing him instantly. After the war numerous books had come out about the Order and the trio, many of them included the various spells used during the war. Severus decided a counter spell to his now notorious slicing spell was needed and had come up with several. The assassin had just found out the hard way that he really shouldn't have tried to hit her with her mentor's spell. She didn't have time to dwell on the loss of life as she battled her way to the hall taking out another muggle and wizard on her way to the door.

As she got in the hall she pulled a small walkie talkie out of her boot, "tell me Narcissa is ok Andy." Andromeda had agreed to be the eyes and ears for the battle but as she was needed by her grandson Teddy, she was off site watching the feeds and reporting in.

"She is in the conservatory and oooooooh she just got him with a candlestick. I know that look Hermione, when my sister looks like that nothing good is going to happen. As far as I know she has never killed anyone, but if you don't get there soon she is going to start!"

"What's the status of everyone else?" Hermione asked, she wanted to run to Narcissa's side but she needed to do her job first.

"A couple of cuts and bruises, a few hexes that need to be undone but all the casualties are on their side. I would say 20 or 30 are dead, and at least 100 more have been knocked out, bound or locked up. I would say we got more than half of them before they pulled their weapons when the traps came up. They killed Robert Bonano after they had you escorted out of the sitting room. His body is still tied to the chair. There are only a few left and they are being rounded up without much of a problem. Once you're done stopping my sister, stop Minerva! She has been taking house points from any enforcers she recognizes. At this rate Filch might win the house Cup as all the Houses will be in the negative."

Hermione laughed and headed towards the conservatory, on the way she came across Severus fighting off two wizards. She wondered when he had left the dining room and where Draco was. He ducked under a punch from one of them and countered with a knee strike to the man's jaw. He spun the man around using him as a shield to block a hex from the other attacker. He fired a jinx back eliminating the threat. He then shoved the first man away and followed it up with a roundhouse kick sending his attacker flying.

"Casualties?" he called out to her.

"None on our side, but Narcissa is still squaring off with Lucius" she answered as she continued towards her destination. Severus followed her through the library towards the conservatory. Ron, Ginny and Harry were thumping on some very out matched muggle enforcers. One snuck up behind Ron and knocked his wand from his hand. Ron grabbed a very large tome and clocked the wizard with it. He accio'd his wand, looked at the now unconscious soldiers and then looked up at Hermione and Severus who were absolutely offended by his use of Hogwarts a History, "What? You have been telling me I need to pick that book up for years!"

Hermione sighed, smacking her bibliophobic friend on the arm as she passed by. They followed her not knowing where she was going but figuring she might need their help.

As she reached the conservatory. Lucius was on the ground with Narcissa standing over him. She hit him with a crucio and from his state it did not look like the first one he took. He looked battered and bloody and Hermione hoped he was in as much pain as he looked to be in. Narcissa's wand was trained on him and was shaking in her hand. Hermione walked over to stand next to Narcissa, covered her wand hand and slowly pushed it down.

"I know you want to but you can't kill him baby. You have done a lot of things but you have never taken a life, don't start now." She wrapped her arms around Narcissa and could feel her tears as she held her close. "He won't walk away from this, I promise you."

They stood like that for a few minutes. Narcissa finally nodded, dried her tears, smirked and cast a spell to make sure her husband was properly detained until he could be hauled off. Hermione called into Andy and found out that the rest of the enforcers, muggle and wizard alike, had been rounded up.

Draco soon joined them, and after doing a double take at the sight of his father and began to pour himself a drink. Kingsley walked in a second later to congratulate Severus and Hermione on their plan when he saw the Lord of the Manor.

"Do I want to know what that is about? I get the sticking him to the wall but why is he green and more importantly why is he naked?"

Hermione laughed, "don't ask Kings."

He sighed, "let me guess, Weasley twin invention? Alright on to business then, Lucius Malfoy, it is my honor and pleasure to arrest you on behalf of the Ministry."

Lucius was dumbfounded, "you have nothing to charge me with. You won't get me Granger. I saw them take the tape, you have nothing. How are you even alive mudblood, I hit you with that muggle gun?"

Hermione unbuttoned her shirt revealing a bullet proof vest, "modified magically, reinforced with dragon hide, I doubt I will even have a bruise. Lucius you are truly a moron. Did you really think we didn't know that you would betray us? That was the plan from the beginning."

Draco poured her stiff drink and she proceeded to explain what just happened. She felt a little bit like Velma at the end of a Scooby Doo episode, but she wanted to taunt Lucius with the knowledge he had been played.

Severus and Hermione had come to the conclusion that the only way out was to eliminate the mob. Lucius was right, pretending to sell the Malfoys to the mob would never work. They wouldn't even come if that had actually been the plan. Fortunately Lucius was an opportunistic, self serving coward and was pretty much guaranteed to sell them out first chance he got. Hermione and Narcissa's lovey dovey bit on the couch wasn't just for their own amusement, but also to make sure he sent the owl to the Bonanos betraying them.

The remote he was carrying was just the clicker for Severus' television which they slapped some stickers on. Everything was being worked by various members of the Order who were already hidden in the house and by Andy who was remotely logged in to the control room and was outside in a surveillance van "borrowed" from Scotland Yard. About an hour before the meet, Hermione cast a silencing spell on the study while she poured Lucius a drink to calm his nerves. The aurors and Order members apparated in and hid themselves in various magically created blind spots or through invisibility cloaks and disillusionment spells. The house had an intricate serious of traps designed to ward against attacks and when 'Lucius' dropped the wards most of the enforcers apparated straight into various traps. Andy activated the traps as soon as they were in.

As Lucius invited them in they couldn't prosecute without a confession. Hermione 'betraying' Lucius was enough to loosen their tongues a bit but Draco's 'anger' was what sealed the deal and dispersed any remaining suspicions. She knew neither Angelo nor Lucius would be able to resist taunting a mouthy woman. At that point it was game on.

The SRP figured their wands would be taken so they raided the evidence lockers at the Ministry. Because Malfoy Manor was being laid siege to, Angelo had brought many of his Capos with him and the mob had just taken a huge hit. It would be years before they would be able to bounce back from so many losses. Many of them would flip and make deals, especially the muggles who would be stuck at Azkaban just like everyone else. The Muggle Ministry was all too happy to allow the Magical Ministry to deal with it's muggle mobsters as well.

Lucius was going to stand trial for this plot and for the murder of the Bonanos. Draco had agreed to provide his memories of the evening and testify. He had actually volunteered to stand trial but Kingsley already told him that he was not going to be brought up on charges. Overall the plan had come together nicely except for the nearly 10,000 house points deducted by Minerva. Andy hadn't been kidding.

Lucius was furious and trying to fight against the spell, then he made the mistake of tempting Fate when he hissed, "could this day get fucking worse?" Considering all that Hermione had been through with Fate, she could have warned him that the answer to the question would have been a resounding yes.

As if on cue, Lucy and Renee walked in and Renee kissed Severus hello, "That was fun, but I broke a nail taking out some wizard who was young enough to be in nappies. I did what you asked, they're here."

Kingsley looked at her in confusion as did everyone else in the room. Even Hermione didn't know what was going on.

Severus put his hand up to stop what he was sure was going to be a long winded speech on keeping secrets from your team. "Relax Hermione we just worked out a little side deal"

All of a sudden Hermione heard the voice of one of her least favorite people in the world, "Renee, for me not to publish an article about you, your sister or any member of the SRP, this better be damn good". Squawked Rita as she walked into the room.

Severus looked at her and said, " you get the exclusive on the downfall of the Bonano family, first crack at what will be dubbed the Battle of Malfoy Manor and the best photo for the morning addition you could ask for; we get a year off".

She looked up on the wall, saw Lucius Malfoy and said, "Deal! Bozo get him from the right side, I think the lighting is better and is addresses any ahem shortcomings. So who wants to tell me why he is green?"

Kingsley looked at Hermione and pleaded, "You sure you don't want to come back to the Ministry? I will give you a pay raise and promise no strip clubs"

"She might actually like the clubs now". Ron chimed in. He, Harry and Ginny had join Draco at the bar and were helping themselves and mixing drinks for everyone involved. Narcissa shot her a look that said you will explain later.

"Not a chance Kings" she looked at Narcissa and then at her friends enjoying the bar, "I am going to slow down, settle down and embrace my role as Draco's new Mommy"

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

She looked in the mirror again and fiddled with her hair. The trials had taken over the rest of the year and although Hermione had actually fulfilled almost all of her Christmas list (all except Luna, but she got a drummer so she was happy, moon toads or not) they did not get a proper Christmas. Kingsley, who had been reelected after 'his administration' brought down the mob and successfully prosecuted Lucius Malfoy, decided to make it up to them and throw a bash for this year. She went over to her evening bag, which she had kept extended, and started loading in the gifts. She had gotten Draco a new thing on the market, she figured he would love the Bluetooth headset. She signed the card mom, which had now become a running joke to Draco's dismay. Blaise, Greg and Ron gave him hell about it constantly.

The gadget hound deserved something nice. He had backed his father down when he tried to challenge the divorce, dealt with all of the Malfoy holdings (including donating the Manor to the aurors office as a training facility and had stood with his mom at their wedding just a month before. Ron, Harry and a very pregnant Ginny (now Mrs. Potter) had stood with her at the wedding and Severus had officiated. They had a small wedding and married under the yew at Malfoy Manor. She couldn't believe they had jumped into marriage so quickly, but she was head over heels with the witch and couldn't be happier.

Draco had joined the SRP replacing Luna who went on tour with Lucy and the band. Hermione had received a postcard from them. They were hunting blibbering humdingers while on tour in South America and were quite happy. Ron ended up being Draco's wingman as the two were hopelessly unredeemable when it came to the fairer sex. They were currently working their way through the rest of the Harpies.

Rita had kept her promise and they had a tabloid free year, she had a framed copy of the now famous picture of Lucius in her office.

Andy wasn't too far off, Minerva awarded the house cup to the house elves. It wasn't just the points from the battle that did it, unfortunately somehow knowledge of 'Noct Leprachaunus' had spread to Hogwarts. House elf magic was the easiest counter curse. The elves spent the entire second half of the year scraping kids off walls, changing them back to their proper color and finding them clothes. Dobby accepted the cup on behalf of the elves to a standing ovation from the students. Minerva was still trying to find a way to get revenge on Fred and George.

Narcissa walked in the room pulling Hermione from her thoughts. Hermione felt her breath leave her as her wife approached and it amazed her that after so much darkness she was gifted so much love. The nightmares from the war were gone. They both found comfort and easy sleep in each other's arms. They had cleaned up Black Manor which they now called home. It had taken 8 months to renovate and upgrade security, but now that it was done the place had transformed beautifully. Hermione and Narcissa were now discussing having a family. She didn't know if she was ready for motherhood but figured with Narcissa at her side, she could face anything. As she walked out the door with her wife in hand she gave a silent thanks to Fate for bringing her here.


End file.
